In February, Brooklyn-via-Vancouver group Smush made me understand Norah Jones and Owl City in a whole new way. Their covers EP Standards, which also featured takes on Big Rig, Hotline TNT, and Field Medic, breathed kinetic glitchy/shoegazey bliss into modern classics. Today, they're back with new original music: a spiky single, "milkweed butterfly," that announces their sophomore album i’ll always wish,, coming early next year.
I love when genres have an explosive chemical reaction. That's what's happening on "milkweed butterfly." Emily Borrowman (bass/vocals), Atley King (guitars), Rudi Neubrander (drums), and Wilson Woods (keys) layer grungy guitars, combustible drums, and a skittering drum-and-bass beat. It makes me want to do something reckless and tender.
In a press release, King shared that the song was "written from the perspective of a child experiencing anxiety and depression with no way to understand or contextualize those feelings, creating 'milkweed butterfly' was a way for Emily to make sense of the instability of immigrating to the United States."
The single comes with a thrilling video of people fencing while the band plays in a small store. Watch the Henry Nelson-directed visuals below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "mourning dove"
02 "john dearly"
03 "you'd stay"
04 "scissors
05 "is this why"
06 "milkweed butterfly"
07 "u too"
08 "dog song"
09 "true"
i’ll always wish,, is out 1/22.
