Is Path Warm?

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Is Path Warm?, the debut full-length from Mister Goblin (the musical moniker of songwriter and Two Inch Astronaut frontman Sam Woodring), takes its name from a mnemonic device used by healthcare workers to assess someone at risk of harming themselves. Pulled from Woodring's career in the mental health field, it's a fitting title for a deeply empathetic album that ponders the absurdities of life, the sheer enormity of trying to effectively help those in need, and above all, the importance of trying. After Two Inch Astronaut announced an indefinite hiatus, it didn't take long for the DC-based songwriter to dive into a new project on his own. 'I'd done a few solo shows during Two Inch Astronaut, and I'd always wanted to get to the point where I could write a song and have it be complete and portable,' Woodring says. 'But I'd spent so long in a band that it was hard to break habits and get out of that specific thing.' His 2018 EP Final Boy began to shake any overly familiar traits, and now with Is Path Warm?, Woodring has truly defined Mister Goblin's sound. It captures small, off-kilter but sometimes oddly comforting feelings, and channels them into music that's just as multi-faceted, intricate, and human. It's an album that acknowledges that while the complexities of existence, pain, or love can't be compressed down to an acronym, a simple promise, or even a record, there's value in caring enough to try.