
“In Your Corner” Turns One: How LOOM’s Intimate Masterpiece Became a Lifeline, Not Just an Album…read more…
A year ago, few predicted the quiet emotional impact LOOM’s debut album In Your Corner would leave on listeners across the world. Released in the summer of 2024, amidst a saturated market of high-budget pop spectacles and AI-generated perfection, the album didn’t try to compete. It didn’t need to. What LOOM offered was something else entirely — a raw, vulnerable, and profoundly human experience.
Now, as fans gather online and in real life to mark the first anniversary of In Your Corner, it’s clear that this wasn’t just an album. It was, and continues to be, a form of shelter. A comfort. A quiet friend through loud times.
A Record That Whispered — and Was Heard Loudly
LOOM’s approach to In Your Corner was anything but flashy. No massive pre-release campaign. No viral TikTok stunts. Instead, the band — a relatively new act led by singer-songwriter Liv Monroe and producer/drummer Ezra Haines — leaned into sincerity.
The lead single “Backseat Window” was released with little fanfare. It was a stripped-down ballad, built on a simple acoustic riff and Monroe’s aching vocals. But it caught on like wildfire. Listeners resonated with its lyrics about watching life pass by while feeling stuck. The line, “I’m not lost, I’m just tired of being found by the wrong things,” was quoted across social media like a rallying cry.
That same ethos stretched across the album. From “Stay Loud (Even If You Shake)” to the title track “In Your Corner,” LOOM offered a sonic embrace to anyone battling quiet wars — with anxiety, isolation, heartbreak, or self-worth.
More Than a Mood: A Movement
In the year since its release, In Your Corner has grown beyond music. It’s become an emotional refuge, particularly among Gen Z and young millennials. Fans routinely credit the album with helping them through breakups, grief, depression, or simply long nights of doubt.
LOOM’s fans began sharing stories of how certain songs became anchors. “Needless to Say” was played on loop by a nurse commuting home during overnight shifts. “Just For Now” became the go-to song for a college freshman who had just moved across the country and felt alone in their dorm. “Open Hands,” the closing track, was even played at a memorial service for a 21-year-old music fan in the UK.
The hashtag #InYourCornerAnniversary trended on social media over the weekend as listeners posted tribute videos, cover versions, and fan art. One video, with over 3 million views, featured people from 20 countries holding signs that read: “This album found me when I couldn’t find myself.”
The Intent Behind the Intimacy
For LOOM, this reception is both humbling and deeply personal. In a recent post marking the album’s anniversary, Liv Monroe wrote:
> “We didn’t write In Your Corner to sell out arenas or top charts. We wrote it at 2 a.m. after panic attacks. In motel rooms. In hospital waiting rooms. We wrote it for us — and it turns out, a lot of ‘us’ are out there.”
Producer Ezra Haines echoed that sentiment in an interview last month:
> “We didn’t want polish. We wanted pulse. We left in the voice cracks, the imperfections. We made sure it breathed. That’s why it connected.”
This philosophy extended to their recording process. The album was recorded in a makeshift studio in Asheville, North Carolina, with minimal digital production. Instruments were tracked live. Lyrics were scribbled and re-written hours before takes. The goal, Haines said, was to “catch the truth, not chase trends.”
A Commercial Surprise — But a Critical Triumph
Despite its anti-glamour approach, In Your Corner performed respectably on streaming platforms. It debuted modestly at No. 78 on the Billboard 200 but maintained a steady presence for over 30 weeks — a rare feat for a debut with no major label push.
Critics praised it with quiet reverence. Rolling Stone called it “a deeply empathetic work of soft rebellion.” NPR described it as “a love letter to the anxious and the aching.” The album eventually earned LOOM a nomination for Best Emerging Artist at the 2025 Grammys and won the “Heart on Sleeve” award at the AMAs, a new category introduced to honor emotionally resonant independent records.
Fans Reflect: “It’s More Than Music — It’s a Mirror”
To understand the album’s staying power, one need only talk to fans. 23-year-old Ava Chen from Portland said the record was “like a blanket when my world felt cold.” She discovered the album a week after her father passed away and said the track “Half-Life” helped her process grief in a way therapy initially couldn’t.
Others, like Joshua P., a 19-year-old trans man from South Africa, said the album helped him feel seen during a period of identity crisis. “It didn’t just soundtrack my transition,” he wrote in a public letter to the band. “It was the reason I believed I could do it.”
These aren’t isolated stories — they’re countless. On Discord servers, Reddit threads, and late-night livestreams, fans continue to share how In Your Corner made them feel safe in their own skin.
What’s Next for LOOM?
LOOM is currently working on their sophomore album, slated for a spring 2026 release. While details remain scarce, the band insists they’re not chasing bigger budgets or trendier sounds.
“We want to stay in the same room where we wrote In Your Corner — not physically, but emotionally,” said Monroe. “We’re not here to be stars. We’re here to be human with you.”
The band also plans to release a special anniversary vinyl edition of In Your Corner this fall, complete with unreleased demos and fan-submitted letters printed in the liner notes.
A Shelter, Still Standing
As music trends come and go — from rage-pop to hyper-artificial electronica — albums like In Your Corner remind us that vulnerability never goes out of style. LOOM didn’t try to dominate the charts or redefine genres. They simply made space. They said, “You’re not alone.” And they meant it.
A year later, fans still step into that space. Still press play. Still find shelter.
And for a world that often screams for attention, In Your Corner remains the album that chose instead to listen — and in doing so, has never been more heard.
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