Demon Slayer
The Blue Herons
Demon Slayer is the debut album by The Blue Herons, a transatlantic jangle-pop and dreampop duo formed by Andy Jossi — based in Switzerland, known from The Churchhill Garden and The Serpent Garden — and Gretchen DeVault, based in the United States and previously associated with The Icicles, The Francine Odysseys, and Voluptuous Panic. The album was released on April 3, 2026, jointly through Shelflife Records in North America, Too Good To Be True in France, and Fastcut Records in Japan, available on vinyl, CD, and digitally. The band has been building its sound since 2020, writing and recording collaboratively across continents — an arrangement that lends the music an atmospheric quality of correspondence and trust, described by the duo as a sense of meaning "felt more than explained." The CD edition adds two bonus tracks, "Turned to Stone" and "Empty Spaces," to the nine-track core album.
Sonically, Demon Slayer sits at the intersection of C86, Sarah Records-era indie pop, and contemporary dreampop, with points of comparison drawn to The Sundays, Alvvays, Hatchie, and Hazel English. The band's approach balances intricate layered guitar melodies and softened shoegaze textures against DeVault's clear, expressive vocals and a strong melodic directness — cinematic in scale but never indulgent. The lead single "Willow," released in February 2026, was praised by Static Sounds Club as "dreamy and punchy at the same time," suggesting an album "built on trust and intuition, where atmosphere serves the song rather than swallowing it whole," while popoptica called the record's jangle-pop romanticism "beautiful, comforting, and definitely dreamy." Past releases have featured guest appearances from Marty Willson-Piper of The Church, lending the project additional credibility within the international indie pop community from which it draws its deepest inspirations.
Demon Slayer
The Blue Herons
Demon Slayer is the debut album by The Blue Herons, a transatlantic jangle-pop and dreampop duo formed by Andy Jossi — based in Switzerland, known from The Churchhill Garden and The Serpent Garden — and Gretchen DeVault, based in the United States and previously associated with The Icicles, The Francine Odysseys, and Voluptuous Panic. The album was released on April 3, 2026, jointly through Shelflife Records in North America, Too Good To Be True in France, and Fastcut Records in Japan, available on vinyl, CD, and digitally. The band has been building its sound since 2020, writing and recording collaboratively across continents — an arrangement that lends the music an atmospheric quality of correspondence and trust, described by the duo as a sense of meaning "felt more than explained." The CD edition adds two bonus tracks, "Turned to Stone" and "Empty Spaces," to the nine-track core album.
Sonically, Demon Slayer sits at the intersection of C86, Sarah Records-era indie pop, and contemporary dreampop, with points of comparison drawn to The Sundays, Alvvays, Hatchie, and Hazel English. The band's approach balances intricate layered guitar melodies and softened shoegaze textures against DeVault's clear, expressive vocals and a strong melodic directness — cinematic in scale but never indulgent. The lead single "Willow," released in February 2026, was praised by Static Sounds Club as "dreamy and punchy at the same time," suggesting an album "built on trust and intuition, where atmosphere serves the song rather than swallowing it whole," while popoptica called the record's jangle-pop romanticism "beautiful, comforting, and definitely dreamy." Past releases have featured guest appearances from Marty Willson-Piper of The Church, lending the project additional credibility within the international indie pop community from which it draws its deepest inspirations.