Chicago musician and producer Jeb Backe returns with a new expanded release under the name No Lonesome. Titled Am I What I’m Not? Probably Not. Wait!, the project arrives February 16 as an extended version of their recent EP. Backe is calling it an “Extended Extended Play,” or EEP, a tongue-in-cheek nod to both format and excess. The release will be available on all major platforms except Spotify, a decision made in observance of the ongoing boycott.
No Lonesome has quietly built momentum within Chicago’s independent music community, where Backe collaborates with artists including Smushie, Astrachan, and Berta Bigtoe. Their work blends mixed-fidelity textures with melodic instincts rooted in country, folk, and indie rock traditions. The Chicago Reader previously described the project as making songs whose leisurely, swaggering saunter lends itself equally well to those genres, a balance that has become central to Backe’s appeal.
International attention has followed. Australian outlet Happy Mag praised No Lonesome’s “soulful and tender melodies,” noting the lush instrumentation and emotive vocals that give the songs a nostalgic yet timeless quality. That duality, reverence for the past paired with subtle experimentation, defines the project’s identity.
With Am I What I’m Not? Probably Not. Wait!, Backe shifts the energy forward. The expanded EP pushes beyond the softer textures of earlier material into sharper, more rhythm-driven terrain. Driving percussion underpins an uncompromising vocal presence, lending urgency to songs that wrestle with self-perception, doubt, and release. Lyrically, the collection moves from inward observation toward something more expansive, touching on themes of identity and cosmic detachment without abandoning its grounded, homespun feel.
The decision to reframe the EP as an EEP feels in line with No Lonesome’s approach. It resists traditional industry pacing while embracing a DIY ethos that prioritizes autonomy. In expanding the project rather than moving on from it, Backe suggests that songs can evolve alongside their maker.
If earlier No Lonesome releases leaned into intimacy, this version broadens the frame. The arrangements feel fuller, the rhythms more insistent, and the emotional stakes heightened. It is less a revision than a recalibration, a reminder that reinvention does not always require starting over.
Featured Images: Artist Supplied
