Sharpie Smile Share Title Track Off Debut Album 'The Staircase' - Out 27 June via Drag City

Sharpie Smile, the unconventional songwriting duo of Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner, descend from the altostratus this summer with their debut album, The Staircase. Ahead of a nationwide tour kicking off this June, the former Kamikaze Palm Tree tricksters are dropping a new single/video today for the title track and closing song, “The Staircase.”

Dylan and Cole dance into an ethereal fever dream on “The Staircase”: waves of abandonment and isolation swirling about in impressionist images and mist-light pop. “Tangled up / with incessant feeling,” Sharpie Smile wear their heart on the outside, as big thoughts crowd their insides. Reflecting, Dylan and Cole share: “‘The Staircase’ is about trying to reconnect with a fractured self — losing sight of oneself while maintaining relationships that aren’t working anymore, and the process of rediscovery after the fact.” The music video, by Dante Capone, switches up between a lush forest setting and a lavish palace interior.

On The Staircase, Sharpie Smile ascend through waves of sound art in a sophisticated musical craft all their own. Inspired by SOPHIE, 100 gecs, Oklou and other insane futurists, they allow the feeling of discovery to free their evolution, whenever needed. Their collaborators help facilitate and guide their astonishing transformations: The Staircase was engineered and produced by Cesar Maria, with additional engineering by Spencer Hartling, additional vocal engineering and production by Cairo Marques-Neto and mixing by Mikey Weiland. The end result: a dreamy, ethereal vision-quest through serpentine soul-terrain.

Start climbing up The Staircase — it’s out June 27th! Shortly after, SharpieSmile will kick off their tour with a record release show June 30th at LA’s Zebulon.

The Staircase Track List:

1. Bells

2. Disappears

3. The Slide

4. Answer

5. Love or Worship

6. So Far (Feat. Leng Bian)

7. Brick or Stone

8. New Flavor

9. The Letter

10. The Staircase

Sharpie Smile 2025 US Tour Dates

• June 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon (Album Release Show)
• July 17 - Phoenix, Arizona @ Valley Bar
• July 19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Black Wall Gallery
• July 20 - Marfa, TX @ Planet Marfa
• July 22 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio
• July 24 - Kansas City, KS @ recordBar
• July 25 - St. Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole
• July 26 - Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
• July 27 - Raleigh, NC @ Neptunes
• July 28 - Washington, D.C. @ Songbyrd Music House
• July 31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
• Aug. 1 - Boston, MA @ The Rockwell
• Aug. 1 - Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield
• Aug. 3 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
• Aug. 5 - Chicago, IL @ Hideout
• Aug. 6 - Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s Live Music
• Aug. 7 - Omaha, NE @ Joslyn Castle Carriage House
• Aug. 8 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
• Aug. 9 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The DLC at Quarters
• Aug. 10 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
• Aug. 11 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
• Aug. 12 - Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Green Auto
• Aug. 13 - Portland, OR @ Holocene
• Aug. 16 - San Francisco, CA @ 4 Star Theater
• Aug. 18 - Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial
• Aug. 21 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
• Aug. 22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom