The roots of Houston, Texas' atmospheric pop project Drowner began in 2008, when multi-instrumentalist Darren Emanuel began experimenting with guitar effects and textures that went beyond the music he was making with his band at the time, Swimming In. While some of this shoegaze-inspired approach made it into his trip-hop-influenced project Apples to Earth, Emanuel continued to write moodier songs that he felt needed a different vocal approach. Enter singer/lyricist Anna Bouchard, a longtime friend with whom Emanuel began collaborating in 2010. By January of 2011, the duo was ...