Snail Mail

From GarageBand to Matador

Snail Mail is Lindsey Erin Jordan, born June 16, 1999 in Ellicott City, a Baltimore suburb. She started guitar at 5 with classical lessons and saw Paramore at 8 on the Riot! tour, which inspired her to start a band. She began writing in seventh grade, booking her own restaurant and coffee-shop sets, and Mary Timony gave her guitar lessons. She was admitted to St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn in 2018 but chose music instead. Her first release was the self-recorded GarageBand EP Sticki (Dog Belly, May 8, 2015). Her first live show was at the Unregistered Nurse festival in Baltimore in October 2015, which led to signing with Sister Polygon, the D.C. label run by Priests.

In 2017 she toured North America supporting Priests, Girlpool, Waxahatchee and Beach Fossils, put out Audiotree Live on June 15 and played the NPR Tiny Desk, and in September signed to Matador. Lush, the debut album, came out on June 8, 2018 (June 9 on the infobox) and reached 2 on Heatseekers. Valentine followed on November 5, 2021; Pitchfork gave it 8.5 and Best New Music. A US and UK tour was canceled shortly before it began. She played Coachella in April 2023, made an acting debut in I Saw the TV Glow in 2024, with a cover of "Tonight, Tonight" on its soundtrack, and released the album Ricochet on March 27, 2026. Paste called her one of indie rock's greatest secret weapons, and she names Hayley Williams, Liz Phair, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Kim Gordon and Mary Timony as influences.