The New Pornographers are gearing up to share their new album Continue as a Guest on March 31st, and they’ve shared another preview of what’s to come today with the single “Angelcover.”
Driven by an uptempo beat and suspenseful instrumentals, “Angelcover” finds vocalist A.C. Newman wrestling with perfectionism and the challenges of conveying your emotions through a creative medium: “Angels on the edge of my bed, been there half of the night/ Looked around, asked ‘You made this hell yourself? Well it’s real nice,’” goes the track’s tongue-in-cheek first lines.
“I pictured this one as a weird little George Saunders-esque sketch, a snapshot,” Newman said in a press release. “I found myself a lot more concerned with performance and/or delivery, changing melody and phrasing to get a better performance, less concerned, less precious about the original melody or lyric that I wrote.”
Newman continues: “With that in mind, I had the idea of angels visiting me in the night with the message that ‘melody ain’t got nothing on delivery.’ Kind of a fever dream, where feelings take on their own personality and shape.” Listen to “Angelcover” below.
The New Pornographers previously shared the Continue as a Guest single “Really Really Light.” They’ll promote the record on a 2023 tour, which you can get tickets for over at StubHub.