Credit: Tyler Krippaehne
Henry J. Star isn’t just a musical alias—it’s a lens through which Knoxville-born musician, producer, and songwriter Devin Badgett rewrites the terms of survival. His debut album, The Soft Apocalypse (out October 17 via Acrophase Records), is already shaping up to be one of the year’s most poignant portraits of self-discovery, stitched together from an unlikely yet magnetic patchwork of influences: Japanese adventure games, ambient minimalism, and the quiet weight of Southern literature.
If lead single “Greenway” introduced Badgett’s world with the wistful glow of early Youth Lagoon and the off-kilter intimacy of Alex G, then “Ember”—out today—sets it ablaze. It’s a dreamy, swelling indie-pop anthem that doesn’t just soar; it wrestles with the gravity pulling it down. Anchored by the aching refrain, “All the way down, hold your breath till it’s over,” the song is less about a moment of crisis and more about the audacious act of staying.
“This song is about deciding to live,” Badgett says, noting that “around 12 versions of it exist” before he settled on this one. That restless tinkering is audible in the track’s emotional architecture: twinkling piano lines that feel like they’ve been plucked from a half-forgotten childhood memory, drums that rumble like a distant storm, and a fuzz-drenched guitar riff that crashes in like a tidal wave of clarity. In just over three minutes, “Ember” manages to feel both intensely personal and universally resonant—a private confession set to something you can shout along to in the dark.
The Soft Apocalypse itself was largely crafted in the liminal spaces of Badgett’s life—bedrooms and basements across Tennessee—where he built a sonic refuge from a complicated past marked by his father’s incarceration, the layered questions of his multi-racial identity, and the isolating sprawl of suburbia. Music wasn’t just a creative outlet; it was an escape hatch, a way to construct a parallel world where survival could bloom into something beautiful.
That hunger for wonder traces back to a worn VHS copy of The NeverEnding Story, which Badgett credits with igniting his belief that better worlds aren’t just possible—they’re worth fighting for. With “Ember,” he doesn’t just extend an invitation into his own—he dares you to imagine yours.
Henry J. Star is here to remind us: sometimes, in the middle of the uncertainty, you choose to stay—and that choice can sound like fireworks.
