When singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lindsey Jordan emerged with her first Snail Mail EP in 2016, it was with an unsettled, candidly introspective lo-fi rock whose moody textures also defined her 2018 breakout debut album, Lush. Adding components like samples, synthesizers, and strings, she both polished and coarsened surfaces on the Brad Cook-produced follow-up, Valentine, in 2021.

Raised in suburban Baltimore, Maryland, Jordan started playing guitar at the age of five. As a teenager, she took lessons from Mary Timony (Helium, Ex Hex). Having already made other friends and connections in the Baltimore and D.C. music scenes by her mid-teens, in 2016, at the age of 16, she released her debut EP, Habit, on Priests-run Sister Polygon Records. Recorded and produced by Priests' G.L. Jaguar and Jason Sauvage (Sneaks), it featured Jordan on vocals and guitar, Ryan Viera on bass, and Shawn Durham on drums. An NPR Tiny Desk concert and an Audiotree Live EP followed in 2017, as did tours with Waxahatchee, Girlpool, and Beach Fossils. Before the year was through, Snail Mail signed a record deal with Matador.

Recorded with producer Jake Aron, who had engineered albums for Solange and Grizzly Bear, Snail Mail's full-length debut, Lush, arrived in June 2018. It saw Jordan's personal lyrics and dreamy guitar style backed by touring bandmates Alex Bass (bass) and Ray Brown (drums). That same month, they opened shows in New England for Belle and Sebastian. Lush eventually landed on the Billboard independent, alternative, and rock charts, reaching as high as number two on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

Jordan's sudden fame, a breakup, and some time away from music all informed Snail Mail's second full-length, Valentine. Written in 2019 and 2020, it was later recorded with Bass, Brown, and producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), who brought in synths and a string section, among other expansions to her sound. Far from a February release, Valentine came out on Matador in November 2021. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi