In February, Smush—a Brooklyn-born band now based in Vancouver—opened my ears to Norah Jones and Owl City in a completely fresh light. Their covers EP Standards, which also included renditions of Big Rig, Hotline TNT, and Field Medic, poured a kinetic blend of glitchy shoegaze bliss into modern classics. Today, the group returns with brand-new material: a blistering single, “milkweed butterfly,” that heralds their sophomore album i’ll always wish,, slated for an early birth next year.
I get excited when disparate genres collide in a volatile chemical reaction. That energy is unmistakable on “milkweed butterfly.” Emily Borrowman (bass/vocals), Atley King (guitars), Rudi Neubrander (drums), and Wilson Woods (keys) stack gritty guitar textures, explosive drumming, and a nimble drum-and-bass pulse. The result is a sound that makes me want to commit something reckless yet tender.
In a press release, King explained that the track was conceived from the viewpoint of a child wrestling with anxiety and depression, lacking a framework to grasp those feelings. Creating milkweed butterfly became Emily’s way of parsing the instability that comes with immigrating to the United States.
The single arrives with a vivid video featuring people fencing as the band performs inside a compact shop. 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.
