Belfast-based trio Careerist, one of the country’s finest live acts and a previous nominee for Best Album at the Northern Ireland Music Prize, make their long-awaited return in 2025 with their excellent second album, Silver Birch Lodge. In their vibrant new material, the trio, comprising Carl Eccles (vocals, guitars, keys), Nathan Rodgers (bass, vocals), and Conor Ellison (drums, percussion), carries over the sharp-edged indie-rock musicality and lyricism of Careerist’s 2019 debut, Weird Hill. Written shortly after the release of their debut, Silver Birch Lodge is a frank exploration, filled with subconscious foreshadowing, of wanting to combat stasis and the struggle to maintain one’s identity while being consumed by self-doubt, distractions and a general frustration of feeling out of sync with the world. The evolution of their dynamic and infectious indie-rock led sound is marked with the inclusion of new influences for the group, such as Cate Le Bon, Prefab Sprout and late-era Bryan Ferry, alongside Careerist mainstays Deerhunter and Parquet Courts. In the true DIY spirit of the band, going back to their early days as Hot Cops, the trio will independently release their forthcoming second album.