Todd & Karen WORK Their Magic with Ironic Indie-Pop Groove

Lunch Break Philosophy with a Side of Synths

I had to stop what I was doing when I heard this track. It hit me somewhere between the fourth sip of my beloved third coffee of the morning and the looming email I’d been dodging all day. The double-single release, WORK by Todd & Karen, leans deep into the futility, the absurdity, the monotony of getting up every day and going to work. Like chasing the same damn hamster wheel.

The duo – Øyvind Berge from Norway and Ina Verdi-Ruckstuhl, still waggling between Ireland and Switzerland – are no strangers to irony. After a quiet 2025, they finally understood that the WORK needs to be done. Like it wasn’t enough already – I’d say. So they came back with this playfully existential jam featuring a cocktail of collaborators. Trick Knobs (Connor Cathey), William Lovitt on organ and synths, and Albert Nesbø Baker on drums, keeping the whole thing from floating off into full existential meltdown.

Lyrics like Got to work in the morning / I had to learn my pain – sounds like something you mumble to yourself halfway through your night shift. Actually, the beat goes like a timecard machine. There’s warmth here, sure – but the kind you get from a fluorescent light after 12 hours in a cubicle.

The Grind Gets Groovy

What makes this track so satisfying is the blend. Indie-pop charm, atmospheric electronica, and just enough Pink Floyd to float through your mental to-do list. The band’s sound has always played with contrasts, and here they go full tilt. It’s pop with a wink, jazz with a job to hate, and a Beatlesian touch wrapped around the lyrics. I’m full on it – just poured my fourth coffee.

And then there’s LUNCH – the b-side that feels like the quirky daydream you slip into while chewing a sandwich on a bench outside work. Ina’s spoken-word segments come in Swiss-German, like overheard thoughts in a dream. It’s cinematic, kinda ironic, oh yes – it’s brilliant. It’s also one of those instrumentals that reminds me to look up at the sky after work, just to see if it’s still there.

Both tracks were produced by Connor Cathey, who keeps the layers tight but breathable, like that one shirt you wear when you want to look like you care without actually caring.

A Reminder We All Need

Todd & Karen dropped this one without a mission to change the world. They’re holding up a cracked mirror and saying, “See that tired face staring back? That’s us too.” And weirdly, it makes you feel less alone.

WORK and LUNCH are like Laurel and Hardy – one dragging you somewhere you’d rather not be, the other making it bearable for a moment. Now the release it’s available on all platforms, and if you’re the kind of person who finds poetry in the mundane, this one’s for you. Throw it on during your commute. Or better yet, during your next lunch break – staring blankly into your salad, pondering the meaning of time. Because hey, if we’re going to be stuck in the machine, at least let the soundtrack be good.

Stream it wherever you escape your job – or right before you dive in. Todd & Karen are working WORK across Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube – catch them on their lunch break and bring the tea.

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