News

Track by Track is a recurring feature series in which artists guide readers through every song on their latest release. Today, Slow Pulp take us through their new record Yard.

Today (September 29th), Chicago quartet Slow Pulp return with their sophomore album Yard.

Featuring Emily Massey on vocals, Alex Leeds on bass, Teddy Matthews on drums, and Henry Stoehr on guitar and production, Yard builds on the guitar-forward dream-pop of Slow Pulp’s 2020 album Moveys. But now equipped with an even deeper level of trust between themselves in the years since, the band use Yard as an opportunity to showcase their broader influences within indie rock, infusing their sound with gritty punk, piano balladry, and folksy twang.

Massey’s vocals also sound more confident on Yard, especially on the single “Broadview,” a bittersweet country ballad that encapsulates late-night summer love. “This song is about letting yourself fall in love for...

The songs on Slow Pulp’s second studio album, Yard, revolve around feelings of isolation and trust. Indeed, there’s a melancholic haze that permeates the album, as singer Emily Massey grapples with learning to be alone. “Could you want me tomorrow/Or is it gone?” she cries on the opening track, “Gone 2,” hinting at the themes she’ll go on to explore throughout the album.

Because of Covid restrictions, the vocals for Slow Pulp’s first studio album, Moveys, were recorded in Massey’s father’s home studio, and the band did the same on Yard. As such, Massey’s vocals remain distinctly warm and intimate, if bleak: “Yet another full moon that I missed this year,” she laments on “Mud.”

And similar to Moveys, the songs on Yard alternate between mellow acoustic ballads and fuzzy pop-punk anthems. But whereas the earlier album was full of light, poppy beats,...

Chicago-via-Madison band Slow Pulp presents ‘Doubt,’ the new single from their forthcoming album and Anti- debut, Yard, out September 29th.

Following lead single ‘Slugs’ – which “was made for that hazy and sweet late summer crush” (Nylon) – ‘Doubt’ is taunting and upbeat, a track about begging someone to validate your insecurities. “In my process to fight against self-deprecation, I found this strange new pattern popping up where I fished for critiques from others,” says lead singer Emily Massey. “I wanted people close to me to validate the things I hated about myself. Self-doubt had found a home in me, it felt safer to stay in this familiar negative space than to like myself. I thought if others shared that with me I wouldn’t have to do the work to change.” On Yard, Slow Pulp tackles the process of becoming comfortable with yourself – a balancing act with learning to trust, love,...

Slow Pulp are a Chicago indie rock outfit we’ve been keeping our eyes on, and their new album Yard is coming out September 29th on Anti-. After announcing the record with lead single “Slug” last month, they’re back with another track, “Doubt.”

Yard is billed as a package of “listless guitar, weepy Americana, a raw-to-the-bone piano ballad, and belt-along worthy pop-punk.” “Doubt” falls more into the first category, calling to mind the most endlessly replayable alt-radio gems of the early 2000s.

On it, lead singer Emily Massey puts her full self on display in front of a partner whose attention she craves — whether positive or negative. “Take me in and size me up/ I know you’re not always a judge,” she sings over a ridiculously catchy guitar riff.

“In my process to fight against self-deprecation, I found this strange new pattern popping up where I fished for critiques from others,...

In preparing for his music supervisor work on Apple TV+’s “City on Fire,” Jonathan Leahy began with what all good pregames began circa 2003: He opened up his CD binders.

“I’m a bit of a hoarder of books and recorded media, and I’ve looked at those Case Logic binders many times,” Leahy told IndieWire. “They’re big, they’re heavy, they’re bulky — maybe it’s time to get rid of them? But I held onto them, and this project began with the fully analog, real-world version of the iPod shuffle. Perfect example of that was Ambulance Ltd, which was such a great never-quite-made-it artist of the era. That’s the very first licensed music you hear in the show, when the Charlie character heads into the record store.”

Set in a post-9/11 but pre-2003 blackout New York City, “City on Fire” is ingeniously updated from the...