Windser

Rising indie artist Windser (Jordan Topf) has announced his highly anticipated self-titled debut album, arriving May 16th via Bright Antenna Records. Windser was co-produced by Topf and Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Sondre Lerche) at John Congleton’s Los Angeles studio, Animal Rites, and features a cast of top-tier musicians, including Dan Bailey (Father John Misty) and Adam Christgau (Tegan & Sara, Troye Sivan, Sia) on drums, Daniel Rhine (Phoebe Bridgers) on bass, Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers) on guitar, and Jerry Borge (Ziggy Marley, Jackson Browne, Dave Stewart) on keys. Each track was built from organic, instinctual collaboration, capturing a visceral, in-the-moment energy that defines the record’s sound.

The opening track and lead single out today, “Abandon,” is a deeply personal and powerful song born from childhood trauma, with Windser’s Topf recounting a pivotal moment in his life when his father left him alone in a hotel room in Costa Rica at just seven years old. The painful memory resurfaced through recent therapy sessions, ultimately guiding Topf toward healing and self-discovery.

“Abandon” is a diary entry of a song about when I was 7 years old and I was left alone in a hotel room for 24 hours in Costa Rica by my father as he rode off on a vintage motorcycle with a woman who was serving as a captain in the Navy. Chasing some fleeting feeling of youth or lust for life. I had never sat with this experience until recently, maybe I was too young to understand what it meant as a kid. Maybe it meant he always had one foot in one foot out the door with our relationship. It took me writing this song to truly process that maybe I never really knew him all too well. That his love for me was inhibited by desire. Maybe there was a dark side that he never wished for me to understand. This song marked a new way of writing I call “improvised feeling”. Building a musical bed and then freestyling melodies and lyrics over it as an emotional response to the sound of the music. It felt incredibly healing to tell this story, because line by line it is autobiographical. But the feeling is universal. - Jordan Topf (Windser)

“Abandon” has found early support on SiriusXM Alt Nation’s Advance Placement and sets the tone for the album, which is a collection of songs filled with evocative storytelling, immersive indie rock soundscapes, and sky-cracking hooks. As a veteran of other bands and a former tourmate of the likes of Portugal. The Man and alt-J, Topf has proven himself masterfully capable of translating those deep emotional moments in grand indie rock scale. While Topf wrote methodically for his previous EP and singles, here he laid down an atmospheric, psychedelic groove with Radiohead-esque affected guitars, and then let the verses tumble out of his mouth.

Windser’s self-titled debut marks the culmination of years of artistic evolution. In 2022, Windser had a breakout year when he collaborated with Macklemore on two singles: “Maniac,” which earned them a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and praise from Rolling Stone, as well as “Next Year,” which they performed on the The Tonight Show and Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. His original track “Belong” was used as the theme song for the limited series podcast Academy in 2023, and that same year, he shared the nostalgic single “Memory.” Co-written and produced by Jackson Phillips of Day Wave, “Memory” racked up more than 10MM streams and spent 18 weeks on SiriusXM's Alt Nation where it peaked at #5. In addition, he released the wistful single “Get Lost” in 2023 alongside his acoustic EP Panoramic Sessions. This past August, Windser delivered a standout performance at Lollapalooza and in May captivated audiences at BottleRock Fest, solidifying his reputation as an artist to watch.

On Windser, Topf explores themes of self-discovery, pain, resilience, and ultimately, love—turning personal struggles into exhilarating indie rock anthems. The LP reflects all he’s been through, holding the mirror up so listeners can explore their own past too. Both in his life leading up to this debut and through the album itself, Topf has learned how to grow into himself—how to face the pain and embrace the beauty. With its mix of raw vulnerability and soaring melodies, Windser is an album that resonates deeply, offering both an intimate glimpse into its creator’s past and a universally relatable exploration of healing and hope.