Upper Narrows

Upper Narrows is the synth pop recording project of Portland, Maine-based songwriter and producer Tyler Jackson. Building songs around programmed beats and synths in lieu of drums and guitars, Upper Narrows is a continuation of Jackson’s decade-plus long songwriting efforts in rock outfits Foam Castles and Golden Rules the Thumb.

Endlessly prolific, Jackson has been writing, recording, and performing in Portland’s indie rock scene since 2008, having turned out over a dozen releases on the eclectic erstwhile labels Peapod Recordings, Teenarena Records and Nice Cast Records.

While We’re Warm (2023)—released by Maine label Repeating Cloud—is Jackson’s first LP as Upper Narrows. Named after a small pond near Jackson’s hometown of Monmouth, Maine, the solo project is a matured continuation of his low-fi, experimental art pop Foam Castles EP, Come Over to My House (2011).

By balancing classic pop hooks with trance-like beats, impressionistic lyrics, and eerie electronic distortions, Jackson is able to craft “a deep and spacey sound…[a] digital soundscape with a very human emotion, resulting in something as immersive as it is affirming” (Various Small Flames, 2023).