{"id":1792369,"date":"2026-02-24T03:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1792369"},"modified":"2026-02-24T03:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:13:12","slug":"topshelf-records-drops-ekko-astral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1792369","title":{"rendered":"Topshelf Records Drops Ekko Astral"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/684045be1d3db7c8827d0931\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/IMG_6904-2.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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News<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Topshelf Records Drops Ekko Astral<\/h1>\n
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\u201cWe can no longer support Ekko Astral and will not be releasing their album,\u201d Topshelf Records wrote in a statement.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Nina Corcoran<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Ekko Astral, photo by Bailey Payne for Pitchfork<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Topshelf Records has dropped Washington, D.C. punk band Ekko Astral and is immediately ceasing all involvement with The Beltway Is Burning<\/em>, the group\u2019s upcoming second album. The record label did not initially specify its reasoning. \u201cWe can no longer support Ekko Astral and will not be releasing their album \ud835\ude35\ud835\ude29\ud835\ude26 \ud835\ude23\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude38\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude3a \ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude34 \ud835\ude23\ud835\ude36\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude28,\u201d Topshelf wrote on Instagram. \u201cThis includes the end of in-house PR service from the label. Refunds for pre-orders will be issued within 5-10 business days.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if Topshelf\u2019s decision was related to the recent fallout between Ekko Astral frontwoman Jael Holzman and former drummer Miri Tyler, the label told Pitchfork, \u201cYes, all of these events, and more, have irreversibly impacted our ability to continue working with this band or releasing their music. We have no further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to Pitchfork, Holzman said, \u201cThere is a lot of misinformation spreading about this story. We will have more to share in the near future.\u201d Holzman also confirmed that The Beltway Is Burning<\/em> will still be released independently, calling it \u201cour pride and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sudden announcement from Topshelf comes in the wake of last week\u2019s Washington City Paper<\/em> story, which describes the rift between Holzman and Tyler. On February 6, Holzman filed a peace order petition in Montgomery County District Court, accusing Tyler of threatening her on social media. According to the story, Tyler has denied making threats against anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not want to see Miri Tyler go to jail and do not think that is a remedy here,\u201d Holzman reportedly wrote in her petition. \u201cBut I need her to stay far, far away from me and leave me alone, so we can both move on and she can find the help she clearly needs.\u201d The peace order against Tyler remains in effect until August 13.<\/p>\n

Tyler publicly announced her exit from Ekko Astral on January 28, but said at the time she planned on playing a final show at this year\u2019s Liberation Fest II, the D.C. punk festival supporting trans liberation and mutual aid, which is set to take place in April. Holzman told Stereogum that Tyler is \u201cabsolutely not barred\u201d from playing the festival, adding, \u201c[it\u2019s] a community event for anyone, the order speaks nothing on that, and I would do anything to make sure that mission stays true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ekko Astral released their debut full-length, Pink Balloons<\/em>, on Topshelf in 2024. Best friends Holzman and Liam Hughes started the band in 2021, and expanded into a five-piece to include Tyler, bassist Guinevere Tully, and rhythm guitarist Sam Elmore shortly afterwards. A few months after releasing Pink Balloons<\/em>, Tully left Ekko Astral, citing \u201ca negative toll on [her] physical and mental health\u201d and a desire to focus on her solo project, Rosslyn Station. Elmore followed suit that fall, departing the band to focus on music as a solo artist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/news\/topshelf-records-drops-ekko-astral\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/684045be1d3db7c8827d0931\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/IMG_6904-2.jpg”] News Topshelf Records Drops Ekko Astral \u201cWe can no longer support Ekko Astral and will not be releasing their album,\u201d Topshelf Records wrote in a statement. By Nina Corcoran February 23, 2026 Ekko Astral, photo by Bailey Payne for Pitchfork Topshelf Records has dropped Washington, D.C. punk band Ekko Astral and is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,54],"class_list":["post-1792369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1792369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1792369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1792369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1792369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}