Listen to MJ Lenderman’s pensive new single ‘Joker Lips’
nme.comrecently-announced fourth album, ‘Joker Lips’ sees Lenderman ruminate on loneliness and the feeling of being misunderstood. “Please don’t laugh / Only half of what I said was a joke,” he deadpans over a tender, fuzzy guitar.
Later, he delivers a heart-wrenching shred of sincerity: “You know I love my TV/ But all I really wanna see is see you near me.”Lenderman has also shared a Ben Turok-directed music video to accompany ‘Joker Lips’ that sees him perform the track with a band on an overgrown hillside, against the backdrop of a hazy sunset.
Check it out below. ‘Joker Lips’ follows previous singles ‘Rudolph’ and ‘She’s Leaving You’. ‘Manning Fireworks’ is due out on September 6 via ANTI-.
The album is now available for pre-order and pre-saving on streaming platforms.Per a press release, ‘Manning Fireworks’ sees Lenderman deal with the success of his previous album ‘Boat Songs’: “Lenderman used that pressure to ask himself what kind of musician he wanted to be — one who could sort through his sea of cultural jetsam and one-liners to say something real about himself and his world, to figure out how he fits into all this mess.”The upcoming record – his fourth – follows on from the three studio records that the indie guitarist has already released as a solo act: ‘MJ Lenderman’ (2019), ‘Ghost of Your Guitar Solo’ (2021) and ‘Boat Songs’ (2022).
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