Afterglow by New Monarchs

Afterglow is the second album by New Monarchs, following their acclaimed debut that captured the anger and urgency of a generation rediscovering protest.
Where their first record burned with confrontation, Afterglow smolders — a reflection on what remains when the slogans fade, when belief turns into memory, and when revolution gives way to quiet endurance.

Written as a “disillusioned swan song for the revolutionaries,” the album traces the long arc from defiance to fatigue, from ideals to introspection. Each track takes a different fragment of the same story: the failure of utopias, the numbness of modern labor, the fragility of connection, the persistence of solidarity.

At its heart, Afterglow isn’t nostalgic. It’s a reckoning — a quiet, cinematic look at what it means to keep caring when the light is almost gone.
Not an ending, but the long fade of hope that still, somehow, warms the room.

Compiled by C. is a narrative-driven music project exploring fiction, memory, and sound. Songs move across genres, shaped by generative tools and built from stories — inspired by novels, grief, and the quiet drama of being human.