Boston indie-folk band explore gender identity, relationship dynamics, anxiety, and escapism on debut album out Friday, May 15
As most of us go through life’s formative stages, there are often two lanes of maturity and fulfillment that casually intertwine, with each helping inform and propel the other. One is establishing who we are as a person, while discovering a sense of identity and comfort as our true selves; and the other is finding our community along the way, seeking refuge and safety in those that exist, and persist, closest to us.
Those lanes converge and come to the forefront of Jesus The Dinosaur’s introspective debut album, Nothing To The Branches, a record that acts as a portal into a different kind of emotive headspace, set for digital release on Friday, May 15 on all major platforms except Spotify.
Across nine tracks that blur genre lines between indie, pop, and folk with a sweeping magnetism and confessional tone, the Boston indie-folk band explores themes of gender identity, relationship dynamics, anxiety, and escapism, all while finding sanctuary both in the music – and each other.
Within the music of Jesus The Dinosaur is a sense of community and comfort, addressing the difficulties of coming-of-age in the modern day while also embracing connections with those who share a common value system. Through the diaristic lyrics of Tommy Ng (vocals, acoustic guitar, synth), Nothing To The Branches acts as both a declaration of outward expression of selfhood and character, and also a protection of inner sensitivities and vulnerabilities.
A trio of upbeat singles in “Sweet Nothing,” “Empty Space” (recently selected by WBUR, Boston’s NPR, as one of the best Boston songs of April and described as “an anthem for the introverts of the world”), and a Bandcamp Friday release of “Not Yr Boy” set a lively tone for the record’s voice.
“The statement that we are making with this album is that we’re here!” Ng says. “The songs cover a range of things from complex relationship dynamics to gender identity to anxiety attacks. But at our core, the music we make is really more about being involved in an intimate collaborative creation process together and finding our own expressions within it.”
What emerges is a kaleidoscopic spectrum of experimental and atmospheric sounds, swirling loosely around the band’s indie-folk core, with music fit for both an afternoon walk around the city with friends or an overnight session of solitary soul-searching.
Nothing To The Branches is a showcase of five best friends making music together on their terms and timelines, with Ng rounded out by Hannah Foxman (electric guitar, vocals); J Kimball (electric guitar), Bradley Robertson (electric bass, vocals), and Jamie Rowe (drums, percussion).
“Our chemistry is everything!” admits Ng, an Atlanta native who has made Boston home since attending Berklee College of Music. “We’ve been friends for a long time. They are my closest friends. It allows for the process of music writing to be very intimate and vulnerable and expansive. There’s space for everyone to have their expressions, and we all want to work together and feel seen.”
Nothing To The Branches was produced, engineered, and mixed by Rowe at Rare Signals in Cambridge and The Record Co. in Boston, with additional engineering by Brian Charles at Rare Signals. It was mastered by Ian Farmer and his cat, Onion, at The Metal Shop in Philadelphia.
“I think the songs on this record explore a range of feelings, some of which are pretty tough and uncomfortable,” Rowe says. “In the studio we have the opportunity to put all five of our sensibilities and curiosities together to sonically express some of these complex feels in a way that supports what Tommy brings to the table lyrically.”
Ng agrees, adding: “We really focused more on the process of the album and less on ‘what is this supposed to sound like’. There were definitely talks about what vibe, sonically, we wanted to roughly aim for, in general like if it was gonna be really effects-heavy or mostly clean live band feeling (latter of which we ultimately went with). But it’s definitely pumped up a little more than a folk record. We are a rock band with folk songs, I suppose.”
What began as an Ng solo and guest collaborator project – releasing a string of singles and EPs over the past dozen years, and earning a Boston Music Award nomination in the Folk Artist of the Year category along the way – has recently shifted Jesus The Dinosaur into something bolder and broader. Nothing To The Branches is the project in its latest shape, properly defined as a band, and carries a lot of personal heaviness with it.
In 2022, with the release of their most recent EP …I’m Passing By My Truths as Fixed Points Only to Return, the band had been operating as a trio (Ng, Foxman, and Robertson), but soon enlisted Rowe and Kimball. Robertson says the band was “learning how to write harmonies over wobbly acoustic guitar, plucky bass, and cassette-recorded drum loops,” and wanted to keep playing those songs with additional, full-time players.
Robertson adds: “At that point, with three guitars and a full lineup, we spent a lot of time experimenting and figuring out the space each of us could occupy without stepping on one another in the arrangements. In doing so, I think we’ve learned a lot about how we each play our instruments, how to support one another, and how to communicate our ideas.”
Those ideas come into vivid color across the album, which first emerged in March through lead single “Sweet Nothing,” a sweeping fit of propulsive energy that centered around struggling through overwhelming social settings with a depleted social meter.
“I have a big people-pleasing problem (working on it),” Ng admits, “so I’ll keep pushing through social interactions even when I have nothing left to give. What comes out of my mouth at that point is usually just that: filler, forced smiles, canned responses, bullshit. Just enough to pass as pleasing and agreeable to everyone. It all kind of makes me sick and I need a lot of alone time afterward. But that takes its toll, too.”
What followed was “Empty Space,” a blissful dose of indie-folk that furthered the sonic mood of the record while engaging lyrical territories of escapism and refuge. Where “Sweet Nothing” found Ng reacting to the stresses and pressures of awkward social settings, “Empty Space” centers on the opposite scenario. It’s an invitation to a place Ng often retreats to, even if it may not always physically exist.
“The lyrics are about spending time alone, and doing your own thing,” Ng reveals. “This is something I’ve always had to do to maintain my capacity for dealing with the world, and to manage being overstimulated by it. When I was a kid, this desire manifested itself as a fantasy about a special place that was somehow completely separate from the world, where time didn’t exist, and that only I could access, which I found incredibly soothing to think about.”
While both singles helped shape the tone for the album, showcasing Jesus The Dinosaur’s lush, emphatic sound that somehow feels both intimately personal and richly expansive, lyrically there is a nice juxtaposition at play between the two. Instead of trying to push through life beyond what feels doable, as explored in “Sweet Nothing,” Ng and Jesus The Dinosaur utilize “Empty Space” to explore feelings about refuge, and finding a place to not only lay low and recharge, but feel like themselves.
“I think ‘Sweet Nothing’ is probably one of the darkest and heaviest songs on the record, while ‘Empty Space’ is probably the most bright and upbeat,” Ng notes. “This song is definitely more about being at ease and what it can feel like, while ‘Sweet Nothing’ is coming from a place where everything feels like a struggle. They both have a theme of ‘neverending’; ‘Empty Space’ in the way it can manifest in deep ease and patience, and ‘Sweet Nothing’ the way it can manifest in spiraling distress.”
Just ahead of the album drop, the effervescent “Not Yr Boy” was released on Bandcamp Friday (May 1), and leaned into Ng’s personal journey of self-discovery, reflecting personal moments from childhood through a convergence of hazy indie-pop and forceful, stomping percussion.
“‘Not Yr Boy’ came about when I was first exploring my gender identity,” they admit. “I was trying to remember as many moments as I could from my past that, upon seeing myself in a genderless light, were clear signs that I was looking for and felt happier and more myself outside of gender norms. I started this process when I was 27.”
Ng adds: “I spent so much of my life trying to fit into whatever being a ‘man’ was, and there were a bunch of strange and impactful moments from my past that for the first time made sense to me. One was about being mistaken for a girl when I was 11 or 12. It was the greatest feeling, one of the first times I felt ‘seen’, in the way of not being a man. Even though the guy took it back when he saw my facial hair, that elation carried on in my memories and my heart.”
Shortly after the album surfaces, a dream-pop lullaby called “Can’t Say” emerges with a video directed by Kimball. The buoyant track was penned by Foxman about a bad living situation with those who she did not get along with, a common experience for young people residing in shared spaces with relative strangers and a frequent situation in the college landscape of Greater Boston. The video finds the band out playing soccer, with Foxman being left out by serving as the goalie.
“‘Can’t Say’ is about living with bad roommates and feeling like you can’t speak your truth,” she says. “The song was written during a time when I was working through the differences of ‘setting a boundary’ vs ‘hurting someone’s feelings’ – that saying how you feel (even if the person on the other side doesn’t like what you’re saying) is important.”
The rest of the album unfurls with a similar expression, as a comforting and self-assured cadence permeates throughout. Tender opener “Agender” unfolds with Ng offering an initial invitation of “I wish I could have chosen something else / Instead of being chosen for by everybody else” as the song embraces our concepts of manhood and masculinity with a poised sparkle of a songwriter fully embracing their identity.
And songs like “Looking For A Way Out,” “Lifetime” (complete with an improv outro jam the band was able to bring from the practice space to the studio) and “I Miss My Friend” push forward like chapters in a larger, overarching story. Album closer “Resentment,” which provides the record’s title in its lyrics, concludes the journey with a festive vibe and a similar gentleness to how it began.
While Jesus The Dinosaur are eager to get these songs out to the world and connect with others who may relate to the album’s overarching themes, they are steadfast in their decision to not release Nothing To The Branches on Spotify.
“We’re joining the ever-growing community of artists who are boycotting the company,” says Kimball. “This includes joining our Boston music peers who are doing the same, which is an exciting development toward using our leverage as a music community. The reasons for rejecting Spotify are numerous and well documented at this point, including running ICE recruitment ads, founder and executive chairman Daniel Ek’s investments in AI warfare and surveillance technology, the introduction and flooding-in of AI artists and playlists onto the platform, the lowest royalty payments of streaming platforms… the reasons increase every day.”
What’s also increasing is the confidence Jesus The Dinosaur boast in this new lineup and enhanced sound, with five creative voices all contributing to its organic development and providing a portal into the soul of Nothing To The Branches. The core of the sound present on the album is centered around personal discovery and confidence, fueled here by the experience of the band playing together as a group, all leveraging what it means to be alive and aware in the world today.
“We love each other so much!!” Foxman concludes. “When we are creating or making decisions as a band, we are friends first, band second. I always feel super supported, respected and loved by this group. Unfortunately, I know that is not always the case in ‘band land’. I think we all have really deep love for each other and that’s how we connect sonically as well. Whether we are getting together to play, practice, or hang — when we are together I’m always feeling full with gratitude, energy, and happiness.”
It’s the reflection of a band assured of themselves as individuals, made louder by the joy in finding their community.
Connect with Jesus The Dinosaur:
LINKTREE . YOUTUBE . APPLE . BANDCAMP . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK
Jesus The Dinosaur is:
Tommy Ng: Vocals, acoustic guitar, synth
Hannah Foxman: Electric guitar, vocals
J Kimball: Electric guitar
Bradley Robertson: Electric bass, vocals, and additional bass VI and loops
Jamie Rowe: Drums, percussion, and additional guitars, vocals, synths, and loops
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‘Nothing To The Branches’ production credits:
Produced, engineered, mixed by Jamie Rowe at Rare Signals in Cambridge, MA and The Record Co. in Boston, MA
Additional engineering by Brian Charles at Rare Signals
Mastered by Ian Farmer and his cat, Onion, at The Metal Shop in Philadelphia, PA
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Jesus The Dinosaur short bio:
With warm and warbly acoustic guitar and waves of bittersweet harmonies, Jesus The Dinosaur’s gentle and confessional performances speak to the soft spoken, embracing life’s gifts and griefs like an old friend. The Boston-based indie folk project first started by Tommy Ng has in recent years blossomed into a full-fledged five-piece, and in May 2026 release new album Nothing To The Branches, recorded at Rare Signals in Cambridge, MA and The Record Co. in Boston, MA.
