Mark Kitchens’ (one third of Stone Machine Electric) long-running solo project Slow Draw deals in patient and often unsettling Drone, Ambient, and Psychedelia. Following 2025’s album “The People’s Department of Governmental Checks & Balances” and its penchant for Heavy, distorted nightmare fuel, Kitchens returns with new album “Burnt Counters.” Dark and poignant in new ways, “Burnt Counters” carves out a very personal corner of Slow Draw’s discography.
The lead single, “Roadblock”, is out now with a fittingly eerie music video, watch it via the YouTube player below:
In the band’s own words:
This recording of this album started in the summer of 2024, after I had the experience of a pulmonary embolism followed by a pneumothorax. Some of these songs are about that and reinforced my thoughts on certain topics. Most of this album was recorded in 2024, but it lagged into 2025 and wrapped up in January of 2026. I bounced back and forth on whether to give it a full band sound, or to make it sound how it might if I performed it live by myself. As you’ll hear, I went with the full band sound. It is a studio album, so if and when I play any of these live, it will be a different experience. Burnt Counters is a more personal album than others. My father passed away in November 2025, commemorated in Walk in the Woods with Dad. My wife, Lynda, provided lyrics for As I Stare. Roadblock is specifically about my health experiences in 2024. If I had ignored my body, I may not be here now.
Pre-Order “Burtn Counters” on Bandcamp: https://slowdraw.bandcamp.com/album/burnt-counters
Tracklist:
01. Entrances & Exits (5:18)
02. Crush (4:18)
03. Totems (8:05)
04. As I Stare (2:40)
05. Roadblock (5:03)
06. Escape (6:13)
07. Walk in the Woods with Dad (4:22)
08. Burnt Counters (5:12)