Critically acclaimed folk duo Penny & Sparrow—made up of Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke—are announcing a new album out next January and have released the third single from the forthcoming offering today, September 13. The album, titled Lefty, is due out on January 31, 2025. Previously, the duo released the singles “Mattering Ram” and “Ketamine” featuring Tobe Nwigwe.
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“Country” is a delightfully traditional country-folk composition that pulls from classic tunes and instrumentals. It features slick steel guitar riffs and steady percussion that ground it in a classic, loping sound. A short little song, clocking in at just over two minutes, “Country” is simply named with a lingering tongue-in-cheek aftertaste. It’s a bold, unexpected move to write a folksy country song and name it “Country.” However, that’s the vibe of the entire album.
The single is evocative and immersive. It creates a rich atmosphere and a detailed set piece for listeners to play in. This is what Penny & Sparrow are looking to do with the album as a whole.
In the context of the rest of the album, “Country” is definitely a departure style-wise. However, it’s not quite out of pocket to say Lefty is a departure from itself. Each track is a unique sonic experience ranging from lo-fi electronica and Bon Iver-style acoustic strumming, to psychedelic, foreboding synth and an interesting foray into autotune on one soulful interlude.
Penny & Sparrow Announce Stylistically Diverse New Album, Tap Into Inner Youth and Unexpected Intricacies
On Lefty, Penny & Sparrow gave themselves ample room to experiment, and the unexpected intricacies of their experimentation come through loud and clear. “We made Lefty 20 tracks long and gave ourselves acreage of song space to experiment. We wanted to record a double album for the challenge of it, and also for the chance to be sonically rangy and eccentric,” the band said in a press release.
The band recorded only a few songs in traditional studios. Instead, the majority of the album was made in a retrofitted garden shed belonging to a friend. “We helped build a recording studio in a buddy’s old toolshed and we made most of the record inside it,” they said, adding, “We wanted to hold genre lightly and take a less curated approach to Lefty, so we followed our noses and made every song we wanted to along the way.”
For Penny & Sparrow, the album is an amalgam of real and made-up concepts. As they explained, “We wrote poetry, true stories, literary fan fiction, horror, erotica, slice-of-life vignettes, dream scenarios, saloon conversations, elegies, a toast, a few confessions and at least two love letters. All of them belong together because each one is an extension of us, of the things we love. We are the ties that bind Lefty.”
Lefty is out on January 31, 2025, with the new single “Country” available now on digital streaming.
Featured Image by Claire Schaper
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