Over the course of the last 15 years, Rocky Votolato has produced some of the most powerful music to come out of Seattle, an impressive canon anchored by earnest, lyrical songwriting, and delivered in a unique indie-folk-punk style that has evolved out of the Pacific Northwest music scene he was raised in. He has matured over the course of eight increasingly accomplished solo albums, and writes songs that seem to have been scratched into a boxcar wall by a worn-out and lonesome ghost.

Makers' title, whether it references a vague existential preoccupation or perhaps a certain brand of American whiskey, captures the mood of its 12 songs perfectly. Take half an hour in a dim room with this album at the end of a hard day, and read the lyrics while you sip your beverage of choice; it may break you down a little at first, but it will lift you up in the end.