# Artist Spotlight: Brooklyn indie folk musician Randy Conti - Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2026/11/artist-spotlight-brooklyn-indie-folk-musician-randy-conti/ - Published: 2026-11-11T17:56:14-05:00 - Author: Max Hammer ![Renny Conti standing beside a city bus shelter at dusk.](https://northerntransmissions. com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Renny-Conti-General-2-Gabe-Long-scaled.jpg) Renny Conti, whose 2026 album _Split Second_ follows his self-titled 2025 breakthrough. Photo: Gabe Long, via [Northern Transmissions](https://northerntransmissions.com/renny-conti-announces-new-album-split-second/). **Renny Conti** once played punk shows and went to college to study film. These days, the **Brooklyn** songwriter finds drama in smaller scenes: boats moving at a pier, a walk through a park, the odd feeling that someone who has gone might still be nearby. His 2026 album, **_Split Second_**, builds a world from those details. He is writing about loss, and the bits of daily life that keep going around it. Dropped September 25 via Mom+Pop, the record follows a self-titled 2025 album that brought Conti wider attention. Coverage from [_The FADER_](https://www.thefader.com/2026/09/24/renny-conti-split-second-interview) and [_Pitchfork_](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/renny-conti-split-second/) has since put his new work under a brighter light. For IRC readers drawn to thoughtful indie folk, he is a discovery worth making time for. ### From Bay Area Punk Shows to Brooklyn Conti grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with two working artists as parents. He played music with his brother, then found his way into local punk bands. A move from San Francisco State to NYU brought him east to study film. Shows and musical friendships gradually took over. His path still runs through those friendships. As he told [_The Luna Collective_](https://www.thelunacollective.co/journal/qa-renny-conti-2026), meeting members of Samia’s band helped lead to opening slots. He has also shared bills with Jay Som and Hamilton Leithauser. The ambition underneath it all is refreshingly plain: “My biggest interest is just being able to make records forever”. ### 󠀁[“Split Second”](https://rennyconti.bandcamp.com/track/split-second)󠁿: A Small Scene With a Long Shadow The opening title track grows from a moment of calm at a New York pier. In _The FADER_ interview, Conti recalls watching the boats and feeling briefly free. That scene gives the album’s title a useful double meaning: change arrives in an instant, while a memory of that instant can last for years. Related Post:  Style-diverse New Zealand musician Stenn Francis-Deare's 'There’s A Lot To Give' _Pitchfork_ describes hushed singing and slowly strummed acoustic guitar. That restraint suits the premise. A quiet moment gets enough space to matter, without the writing turning it into a neat lesson about recovery. ### 󠀁[“Leaving the Zoo”](https://rennyconti.bandcamp.com/track/leaving-the-zoo)󠁿: Grief Without Easy Answers Conti told _The Luna Collective_ that the zoo first stood for New York. As he rewrote the song, it came to stand for the world itself. Following his brother’s death, leaving that world became a painfully personal subject. The metaphor earns its place because it keeps shifting. A familiar city becomes an enclosure; an ordinary phrase takes on the weight of a farewell. Conti also told _The FADER_ that writing the song helped him understand his feelings, without resolving them. That admission gives the work more weight than an easy claim that music fixes everything. ### “Impossible Truth”: Holding On as Someone Pulls Away For a more direct way in, start here. _Pitchfork_ singles out its driving rock arrangement, and the [artist-published lyrics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv1aJpTGu8U) make the conflict clear. One person keeps drawing closer as the other drifts away. Staying together begins to feel like a contradiction. Conti gives the narrator enough self-doubt to complicate the complaint. He is still attached to an earlier version of himself, too. The relationship has changed; catching up with that fact is the hard part. Gabe Long directed the official video below. ### Why Renny Conti Fits IRC The close focus on a voice, a room and a passing thought belongs beside the songwriting IRC has followed in [Iron & Wine](https://indierockcafe.com/2009/06/iron-and-wines-around-the-well-is-a-must-have-for-sam-beam-followers/) and [Andreas Owens](https://indierockcafe.com/2021/11/folk-artist-spotlight-andreas-owens/). There is a fair caution: _Pitchfork_ finds that some of the album’s haze blurs its details. These three songs offer concrete places to begin, before exploring that more elusive side. Related Post:  Artist to Watch: London's art-pop project Zoee **From:** San Francisco Bay Area, California **Based in:** Brooklyn, New York**Style:** Indie folk, folk-rock, understated indie rock**Featured album:** _Split Second_ — September 25, 2026; Mom+Pop ### For Listeners That Like Iron & Wine, Elliott Smith and Little Wings. Conti discusses Smith and Little Wings in his Luna interview; Iron & Wine is an IRC listening recommendation. [Official website](https://www.rennyconti.com/) · [Stream or buy _Split Second_ on Bandcamp](https://rennyconti.bandcamp.com/album/split-second) ### Posts You Might Like * [Iron & Wine: Exploring _Around the Well_](https://indierockcafe.com/2009/06/iron-and-wines-around-the-well-is-a-must-have-for-sam-beam-followers/) * [Folk Artist Spotlight: Andreas Owens](https://indierockcafe.com/2021/11/folk-artist-spotlight-andreas-owens/) * [DIY Artist of the Week: Thad Kopec](https://indierockcafe.com/2012/05/diy-artist-of-the-week-thad-kopec/) * [Youth Lagoon: IRC’s Early Trevor Powers Feature](https://indierockcafe.com/2011/07/artist-week-youth-lagoon-boise-multi-instrumentalist-songwriter-vocalist-trevor-powers-signs-fat-possum/)