22-year old Bel Cardin is an emerging, Raleigh-born and-based singer/songwriter. Coming from a family of music lovers, the young North Carolinian can trace the origins of their music career to when they picked up the guitar at 13. Raised on Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and Elliott Smith, Cardin later fell in love with a collection of artists that emerged in the 2010s, drawing from those artists’ penchant for melodic and crisp guitar, slightly ambiguous song structures and meticulous lyrical imagery.

Cardin’s debut, 2023’s 10-song Petrify was a melancholy, guitar-driven batch of songs recorded at their college campus’ music studio.

The North Carolinian’s latest single “Trust” is the first single since the release of Petrify. Beginning with a lengthy, dreamily atmospheric introduction featuring strummed guitar and Cardin’s heartbreakingly tender delivery, “Trust” slowly builds into a thunderous climax and gentle fadeout. Seemingly drawing from the likes of Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail and others the new single thematically touches upon previously established themes of human nature, vices, loneliness and what it means to connect with the people around them.

Sonically, the new single sees Cardin taking a bold step forward in production and songwriting while retaining elements of her previously released material. It also marks the first track from a forthcoming sophomore album.