Constant Smiles

Based around the songs of prolific songwriter/producer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones, Constant Smiles finds the nexus of several generations of shadowy pop songcraft, merging the laid-back style of '70s singer/songwriters with elements of shoegaze, dream pop, and notes from the American indie rock underground. Constant Smiles operates more like a collective than a traditional band, with both the band membership and the overall sound of the music shifting from one release to the next. Jones and friends moved from synthy and reverb-saturated sounds on earlier albums to more direct, organic fare on 2021's Sacred Bones release Paragons but bounced right back into the synth pop realm on 2023's Kenneth Anger.