Tropopause, Bomethius’ second release on Chicago-based indie label Oakley Avenue Records, arrives on June 6th, 2026. Working with the same core of collaborators from the prior record, Borrowed Time, and following years of diligent live performances, Bomethius has opened a new, louder, and more compact chapter in the nearly decade-long baroque pop project.

Like the meteorological term from which it draws its name, the record represents a threshold in one’s life and the areas on either side of it—both of which are best appreciated from a bird’s-eye view. 

Guest harmonies from Hodges’ sister, Caroline, dance through some of the record’s quieter moments (“Over,” “Almost,” “Scorched Earth”). The album ends with what’s sure to be one of the most memorable violin pieces in the Bomethius catalog. The closing moments wordlessly represent that barrier between the turmoil below and the lucidity above, as explored by the preceding songs. It’s a memorial of divine goodness, a reminder that it doesn’t have to be that serious, and a nudge to pet a dog, and go outside, and chase pigeons and squirrels. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do.