PRE ORDER: You Sing Like You're Joking - Palehound (CD)

On Palehound's new album, You Sing Like You're Joking, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist El Kemper returns with a beautiful & introspective collection of songs, full of their trademark lyrical ability to spin universal yarns out of deeply personal moments. Produced by Kempner, Julian Fader (Ava Luna), and Katie Von Schleicher (Frankie Cosmos), the nine-track project finds Kempner surveying the tectonic shifts in their life and career, which has blossomed in ways they never anticipated when they were starting out in Boston's DIY scene in the early 2010s. And yet Kempner's successes have been punctured by profound loss; much of You Sing Like You're Joking grapples with broken and distanced friendships. To that end, You Sing Like You're Joking (a lyric pulled from opening track Incisions) acts as a catch-all for Kempner's approach to relationships, which is marked by always wanting to go deeper. I felt like it really encapsulated all the emotions of the record, says Kempner, which is just me trying to get to know people, trying to connect, and having a barrier or feeling resistance. In addition to Kempner's last Palehound album, Eye on the Bat, and their work with Bachelor (a collaborative project with Jay Som's Melina Duterte), Palehound has earned widespread critical acclaim in outlets such as The New York Times, Pitchfork, and NPR, which praised their unique sound and fearless artistic direction. Palehound's long and storied touring history has seen them play shows around the world alongside some of the biggest names in indie rock, including Big Thief, Sylvan Esso, Lucy Dacus, PUP and more. And it's not just other artists who have been inspired by their music - Kempner's passionate and introspective songwriting has struck a chord with fans around the world, cementing Palehound's status as a deeply admired and widely influential artist.