Say Anything have detailed their new album, …Is Committed, and shared the latest single, “Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent).” Stream the cathartic track below.
To record the album, Say Anything mastermind Max Bemis reunited with producer Brad Wood (Sunny Day Real Estate, Mewithoutyou), who previously helmed the emo veterans’ breakout 2007 double LP, In Defense of the Genre.
As the title implies, “Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent)” nods toward Sufjan Stevens’ 2015 album, Carrie & Lowell. In a statement, Bemis explained how the song was influenced by the project as well as his own family trauma.
“‘Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent)’ is named (with the brevity of an early Minus the Bear track) after my affinity for Sufjan Steven’s titular album about HIS Mommy issues,” Bemis said. “I adore my mom to death and grew up both sparring and worshiping her, enmeshing myself in both her emotional genius and warmth and the wealth of generational trauma she inherited from her Holocaust-laden family. It took until middle age for us to get into our first real (heinous) fight, replete with actual stakes and a brief ‘let’s pretend we’re never going to talk again’ period.”
He continued, “I wrote this song, and much of our forthcoming record, during a period of such searing trauma and loneliness that not having my parental BFF by my proverbial side felt like an affront even if my mom was just trying to deal with other issues that come with being a child-soul with grown-person decisions to make…. Just like her bipolar pervert of a son. We in the SA camp figured serving y’all a spazzy, weird one after that last poppy jam would be fun, too, so here it is, with all the time changes and Sherri vocals you’ve come to expect.”
In addition to “Carrie & Lowell,” …Is Committed also features the previous singles “Psyche!” and “Are (You) In There?” Say Anything have yet to reveal the release date for their follow-up to 2019’s Oliver Appropriate. In the meantime, see the full tracklist below.
Next week, Say Anything will play a three-night residency at The Regent in Los Angeles, followed by a pair of appearances at this year’s edition of When We Were Young. Grab your tickets here.
…Is Committed Tracklist:
01. Introduction to the Reunion Record
02. Psyche!
03. Are (You) In There?
4. Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent)
05. I, Vibrator
06. Auto-Harmonic Ass Fixation
07. We Say Grace in This Goddamn Band, Mister
08. Say Anything, Collectively, Made Love to God
09. Nardo
10. On Cum
11. Decent Scar, Brah
12. Woman’s Song
13. Fan Fiction
