Cashell Finds His Own Sound on Debut Album If, by chance, estranged…

By Chris Kennedy | Published 27th Sept, 2026

Sometimes you just have to stop thinking about making a record and actually make one. For Dublin-born, Scotland-based multi-instrumentalist Cashell, that moment arrived in 2025.

A trip to a Glasgow zine festival followed by Fringe shows in Edinburgh provided the spark. Inspired by the DIY attitude surrounding both festivals, Cashell decided it was time to take that same approach into his own music.

It wasn't exactly his first rodeo. Having spent years fronting Irish indie outfit Brass Phantoms, alongside collaborating with Edinburgh's Postmarket, Cashell already had plenty of experience behind him. Going solo, however, meant taking full control - and that's exactly what he's done on his debut album, If, by chance, estranged….

Cashell Steps Out on His Own

We'd already had a decent taste of what Cashell's solo project had to offer.

Singles Said and Done and These Things Take Time picked up radio support and press attention across Ireland and the UK, as well as landing editorial playlist support on Spotify. September's Game Show pushed things further, setting the stage nicely for the full record.

Now If, by chance, estranged… has arrived, and those early singles only told part of the story.

This is an album happy to bounce between ideas, textures and genres without worrying too much about fitting neatly into any particular box.

Lo-Fi Indie With a Sunny Side

Musically, If, by chance, estranged… sits somewhere in the middle of electro-indie, surf-pop, shoegaze and garage rock, all held together by a strong lo-fi DIY aesthetic.

Cashell produced the entire album himself in his home studio, and you can hear that homemade approach throughout. There's a rough bedroom-pop quality to the production, but it never gets in the way of the melodies. If anything, the imperfections are part of the charm.

Opening instrumental Prelude From Across the Hill eases us in with slowly strummed acoustic guitar and dreamy guitar notes. It's a brief introduction before Game Show arrives and immediately turns up the energy with aggressive electric guitar strumming.

Said and Done keeps the guitars crunchy and the pace firmly in mid-tempo indie territory, while Ferris Wheels changes direction with a bigger and noticeably more melodic pop production.

It's an early sign that Cashell isn't planning on sticking to one sound for very long.

Shoegaze, Acoustic Guitars and Walls of Sound

These Things Take Time starts with eerie synths before opening out into one of the record's most shoegaze-inspired moments. There's a haziness here that works particularly well against the brighter material elsewhere on the album.

Pushing Away strips things back again. A driving acoustic guitar carries much of the song, with Cashell gradually introducing additional layers as it progresses. Percussion doesn't properly arrive until more than halfway through, giving the track a slow-building quality without ever losing momentum.

Then there's Around Town, which goes in almost the opposite direction. Here Cashell embraces a full wall-of-sound approach, with a fast, repetitive beat eventually taking control.

Take It Easy does exactly what the title suggests, bringing things back towards more straightforward indie territory. Strummed electric guitar and organ sit over a relaxed mid-tempo groove, providing one of the album's more immediately familiar moments.

Cashell Keeps Things Rough Around the Edges

The second half of If, by chance, estranged… continues the album's habit of jumping between different sounds.

The brilliantly titled A Little Time in the Sun (Live from 1971) is built around quick, down-stroked electric guitar. The sound is clean enough, but there's a deliberately rough edge to the recording that pushes it firmly towards garage rock.

Terraced House, meanwhile, begins with a simple one-string guitar intro before the beat starts shifting underneath it. It stays broadly mid-tempo but keeps changing just enough to prevent things from becoming predictable.

And unpredictability is probably one of the album's biggest strengths.

There's a temptation with self-produced debut records to throw absolutely everything into the mix. Cashell certainly isn't short of ideas, but If, by chance, estranged… generally feels more curious than cluttered. One track might lean towards shoegaze, another garage rock and another sunny indie-pop, yet that rough DIY production gives them a common thread.

Another Song Brings Things Full Circle

Closing track Another Song brings the album back down to earth.

The arrangement is relatively stripped back, centred around simple strummed guitar without much in the way of obvious effects. Cashell's melancholic vocal remains front and centre, although musically the song is surprisingly upbeat, with busy hi-hats keeping everything moving.

It's a fitting way to end an album that's spent its running time refusing to stay still.

Final Verdict

If, by chance, estranged… feels very much like the record Cashell wanted to make rather than one designed to tick any particular genre boxes.

Its home-studio production gives it a rough-around-the-edges character, but underneath all that DIY grit are plenty of bright melodies, interesting arrangements and genuinely catchy indie-pop moments.

There are flashes of surf-pop, shoegaze, garage rock, bedroom pop and straight-up indie throughout, but Cashell's melancholic vocals and homemade production keep the whole thing connected.

After years spent fronting Brass Phantoms and working with other artists, Cashell's decision to step out alone has resulted in a debut that sounds appropriately personal and unrestricted.

If, by chance, estranged… might wander around a bit – but that's exactly where much of its charm lies.

The album, If, by chance, estranged…, is available through all streaming platforms.

Photo Credit: Cashell