Death in the Business of Whaling

Death in the Business of Whaling represents a pivotal evolution for Searows, the project of Alec Duckart. Released in early 2026, it serves as the follow-up to the 2022 debut Guard Dog. The most significant shift in this sophomore effort is the move from solo bedroom production to a collaborative studio environment at Trevor Spencer's facility near Seattle. This transition introduced a broader palette of instrumentation, including banjo, harmonica, and live drums, which adds a rhythmic complexity previously absent from Duckart's work. Despite the expanded sound, the album retains the 'close-mic' vocal intimacy that defined his early career. Lyrically, the record explores themes of naturalism, mortality, and the passage of time, often using maritime or elemental metaphors. It was preceded by the singles 'Dearly Missed' and 'Photograph of a Cyclone', which signaled a move toward a more structured, Americana-adjacent sound while maintaining the slowcore-influenced pacing of his debut.