Shoegazing East Coast alt-rockers Kestrels are returning with a new album. Better Wonder is out February 14 through Darla Records, and the single "Lilys" is out now.
Better Wonder combines decade-old songs from bandleader Chad Peck's abandoned solo album, and songs penned in pandemic isolation in 2021. In a statement, Peck called the album "a nighttime record riddled with anxiety written during a weird time. I had lived alone in the woods most of my adult life and I loved that lifestyle in a lot of ways. But during that time period there was so much change and tumult and those feelings of insanity at three in the morning. I was trying to capture it in a murky, uncomfortable sound."
"Lilys" features backing vocals from Alex Edkins (of METZ and Weird Nightmare). Appropriately enough, the title is a nod to '90s shoegazers Lilys. Peck said, "The song introduces the themes of the album: why you're awake in the middle of the night, the uncanny effects of self-imposed isolation, and the implied hope of tomorrow."
Watch a video for the track below. Better Wonder is available to pre-order here.
Better Wonder:
1. Lilys
2. Dream of You in Black
3. Float Alone
4. A Thousand Bare Diamonds
5. Sleepless
6. It Would
7. Sunflower
8. Free Forever
9. Nightlife
10. Interstellar
11. Nausicaa
12. Total Bummer