Hand Habits: Blue Reminder [Album Review]

Hand Habits
Blue Reminder
Fat Possum Records [2025]

“Hand Habits trades whispers for widescreen indie rock.”

Album Overview: Hand Habits is the project of Meg Duffy, a multi-instrumentalist who’s spent years on the road both as a solo act and as part of Perfume Genius’ live band. Their music has always been rooted in honesty and openness, circling themes of identity, love, and self-acceptance. Blue Reminder finds Duffy in a moment of renewal. Instead of digging primarily into grief or loss, these songs lean into what it means to accept love, embrace vulnerability, and step more fully into oneself. Tracked live in Los Angeles with a tight circle of collaborators, the record carries an immediacy and warmth that feels like a genuine conversation between friends. Over twelve tracks, Duffy explores the fragile joy of connection while acknowledging the shadow of memory and the inevitability of change.

Musical Style: Blue Reminder shifts into a more guitar-driven zone, nodding toward the melodic looseness of ’90s indie rock. While earlier Hand Habits records leaned quieter, this one isn’t afraid of fuzzed-out riffs, steady rhythms, or the occasional horn or keyboard flare. The sound is fuller, but still intimate—balancing raw edges with carefully considered detail.

Evolution of Sound: Compared to the hushed tones of past releases, Blue Reminder feels outward-facing, less like private meditations and more like a conversation happening in real time. Duffy’s voice remains disarmingly personal, but the music around it shines brighter and bolder. It’s a record that trades solitude for community, intimacy for openness, and in doing so, pushes Hand Habits into new territory without losing what made them special in the first place.

Artists with Similar Fire: Think Aimee Mann’s sharp turns of phrase, Neko Case’s storytelling gravitas, and Cate Le Bon’s knack for bending structure. There are flashes of Waxahatchee in the balance between grit and tenderness, and even a touch of Jonathan Richman in the way vulnerability can feel both awkward and magnetic.

Pivotal Tracks: “More Today” distills the album’s core tension—how love and loss are always bound together. “Wheel of Change” captures the messy renewal of endings and beginnings, while “Way It Goes” clears out the cobwebs of past connections. “Dead Rat,” with its odd yet striking metaphor, lingers long after it ends. And the title track, “Blue Reminder,” is the heart of it all: a sweeping, emotional declaration of selfhood and commitment.

Lyrical Strength: Duffy writes with an honesty that cuts close to the bone. The lyrics circle around fear, hope, and resilience, always tethered to love in its many shapes. There’s a recognition that intimacy can be both terrifying and exhilarating—and it’s in that paradox that Blue Reminder finds its pulse.

Final Groove: Blue Reminder is a record about stepping into the light without pretending the darkness isn’t there. It’s more muscular than Duffy’s past work, but no less intimate. The songs breathe, ache, and lift in ways that remind you how risky and rewarding it is to open yourself up. This is a solid record from front to back as this is Hand Habits moving forward with confidence—and it leaves the sense that even bigger revelations are still ahead.

HAND HABITS REVIEW HISTORY
Fun House (2021)

HAND HABITS LINKS
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Fat Possum Records