Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman Come to Their Senses on "Right Back to It"

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BY Kaelen BellPublished Jan 9, 2024

Sometimes your body tells you to pull away. Sometimes, after years of closeness and stability, comfort starts to feel like constriction. Usually it's only when you give in to this subconscious panic and actually pull away that you realize all your complications — the eggshells you've strewn, the petty resentments, the need for escape — were a test. You might've failed briefly, but you can always get right back to it. 

The lead single from Waxahatchee's upcoming Tigers Blood is a gentle reminder to herself, a nudge to recognize just how lucky it is to have a love that's always waiting on your return. A tender whirlpool of banjo, acoustic guitar and MJ Lenderman's coppery riffs, it finds Katie Crutchfield expanding on the palette of 2020's beloved Saint Cloud, descending from that album's open skies and into the warm earth. 

"I let my mind run wild / I don't know why I do it / But you just settle in / Like a song with no end," she sings, Lenderman's sideways harmonies adding a beautiful friction to the song's gentle trot. Whether it's a lover, a friend or a sibling, some loves can handle a bit of self-sabotage — it'll always be waiting for you, arms open, when you come to your senses.


 
(Anti- Records)

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