The Glowworms Navigate Longing, Distance and Reconciliation on ‘Baleen’.

By Hard of Hearing on July 16, 2026

On their second EP, the London outfit weave delicate arrangements into a sincere storybook of love, hope and moving on.

Words: Eloise Applebaum

The Glowworms occupy a curious space within London’s grassroots music scene. The five-piece have already built a dedicated following, selling out the Windmill in 2025 on only a few singles and a dream. Drawing from indie folk and Midwest emo, their sound nevertheless resists easy categorisation. With their new EP ‘Baleen’, the band cast their line into deeper waters, drawing from musicians across different genres and generations.

An immediate highlight is ‘Those Things’. Its shared vocals and tropical riffs evoke the warmth of a beach campfire at midnight, roasting plantains with your closest friends while palm trees sway overhead. Loose traces of Paul Simon’s ‘The Coast’ can be heard in the sun-soaked guitar work, and, indeed, the group spirit of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Oh Cecilia’ pokes through its singalong chorus. The single serves as a heartening ode to surrender, comforting listeners and encouraging them to let go of what cannot be changed as they float on downstream.

Another standout is ‘This & That’, a ballad of uncertainty that captures the confusion of two people not knowing what they truly want from one another. It battles with the question of whether it is worth risking your solace for someone you love, or whether you are better off protecting your peace. The shared vocals throughout the song make it feel as though we are experiencing both partners’ perspectives, at times in unison but at others separately, both struggling with the same doubts from their own point of view. At its heart, the song reflects this generation’s familiar fear of attachment, knowing that one day it may end in heartbreak.

‘Baleen’ goes on to unfold like a hymn, each track feeling deeply personal while remaining strikingly relatable. Across the EP, The Glowworms investigate themes of longing, hopes of reconciliation, and distance. These flash up in evocations of the temptation to call an old lover and the kind of yearning that makes you absent-mindedly miss your tube stop on the journey home. Woven together by intricate guitar riffs and rich string arrangements, ‘Baleen’ traces the arc of a relationship from the hope of reunion to the more difficult prospect of building a future alone.

This is an EP for those who wear their heart on their sleeve. It also establishes The Glowworms as one of the most distinctive bands to emerge from the Windmill scene in recent years. Best listened to in an intimate setting, ‘Baleen’ resonates well beyond its final note, inviting listeners to confront their innermost ruminations.