Ray Duncan knows the grind well. Years spent squeezing between service industry shifts, composing music for Shakespeare festivals, and hosting a podcast about her mother’s career in songwriting culminate for her in Laundromat, a five-song EP that turns pet peeves into a cathartic rock and roll victory.
Regarding the album production, with producer Mike Fahey, the record was recorded at Starbird Sound in Antioch, TN, Laundromat finds Duncan moving away from her folkier roots and serving a grittier, less filtered sound. The album’s “Waitress” opener is a visceral tableau of the chaos behind the scenes, where the stench of bloody mary mix and the churn of dish machines become a rhythmic undercurrent to Duncan’s searing lyrics.
From its hard-charging kick-off, “Used to It,” with its themes of exhaustion and resilience, is a smoldering anthem of the kind that also highlights Duncan’s capability to balance vulnerability with undeniable strength. Meanwhile, “Friends” provides an emotionally rich meditation on changing relationships, the soaring melodies and anthemic instrumentation making them hard to forget.
With Laundromat, Duncan does more than tell stories. She brings listeners into them. Whether it’s the stress of working late hours, the pain of relationships that fade away, or the unsung triumphs of telling yourself to keep going, this EP establishes her as a voice for people who clock in and dream big.
Laundromat is streaming now on all platforms. Hit play and plunge into the world of Duncan, where the struggle is real, as is the sound of freedom.
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