Circling Girl opened the night with a set that moved with a soft intensity, giving the early crowd something atmospheric and grounded before American Football took the stage.

Opening for a band like American Football can be a strange assignment. The audience is usually there for songs that reward patience, and forcing the room into a different emotional gear too early can feel wrong. Circling Girl avoided that completely. The set worked because it trusted restraint, letting mood and texture build instead of trying to overpower the room.

That restraint gave the night a strong starting point. It set the emotional temperature without making the show feel sleepy, which is harder than it sounds.

Circling Girl’s poignant melodies and introspective lyricism serve as a beacon, guiding listeners through the labyrinth of their own emotions and experiences while surrounded by a comforting surrealism.

  • Lynx Radio

It was a special night for circling girl because this was their first-ever show outside of Denver. Their set was full of catchy songs with beautifully lush harmonies, hypnotically dreamy melodies, amazing vocals, and a stunningly melancholic sound. One of the highlights of their set was “Marionette,” particularly the earworm chorus and gorgeous vocals. I loved this song and will definitely be playing it nonstop for the next while.

Denver-based dream pop that exudes a universal spirit, lighting the discarded bits of tinder tucked away in the corners of listeners’ bodies through searing words, ethereal refrains, and reverberating soundscapes that float through the airwaves with a lightness of touch and the gravitational pull of a warm hug

  • Kyle Dick

Circling Girl’s peaceful pop set was the perfect way to guide UMS goers into more rowdy electronic-based sets further down South Broadway that evening.

-Pyper Tiffany / 303 Magazine

Their shimmering harmonies immediately called to mind a Gen-Z interpretation of Cocteau Twins, pairing blissful melodies with an aesthetic that leans heavily into escapism, both visually and instrumentally. Woodland imagery, spirals traced around their eyes in eyeliner, and an ethereal visual identity transported me back to my teenage years, when discovering an international band online felt like stumbling onto a secret no one else had uncovered yet. Before my Dandy Brewing pickle pizza had even arrived, I'd already bought a copy of Only My Veins Know, convinced I'd found one of those bands that Sled Island seems uniquely capable of introducing at exactly the right moment.