[Cover photo credit to Andy De Santis]

Songwriter, guitarist, and Producer Meric Long, one half of the Bay Area indie duo The Dodos, has announced his solo debut album, Kablooey, out this Friday, October 24th, 2025, via longtime label Polyvinyl Record Co. Ahead of this week’s album release, Long has shared his Kablooey lead single, “A Small Act of Defiance.” In it, Long “pleads for its subject to stop and reset before it’s too late.”

The album was recorded during off hours, late nights, and in between working sessions as one of the in-house engineers for John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone recording studio (Sasami, Death Cab for Cutie, Black Pumas). For Kablooey, Long continues to pursue his “sonic muse,” exploring both frenetic energy and restraint. 

Speaking on the album’s origins, Long shares:

This album was really meant to be fun and not too purposeful. I put a lot into it as one would expect, but I really just wanted to make something that was fun and allowed me to follow my more “amped up kid in a candy store” impulses.”