Few debut albums arrive as fully realized as Henry J. Star’s The Soft Apocalypse. The project from Nashville-based artist Devin Badgett transforms the weight of modern life into something transcendent, culminating in a sound that feels both classic and futuristic at the same time. Across its ten tracks, Badgett weaves ambient, electronic and emo influences into a cohesive sound, while drawing lyrical and sonic inspiration from unexpected places: video games, a bat encounter and Southern literature. The record confronts both the personal and literal end of the world, weaving together moments of death, love, violence and rebirth into a cathartic and apocalyptic body of work. On The Soft Apocalypse, what began as a personal reckoning became a sweeping meditation on hope, identity and transformation in the face of collapse.

Watch Henry J. Star perform “Wallflower,” “Greenway,” and “Petrichor” live at WNXP’s Sonic Cathedral.