Recent Exclaim! New Faves alumni Dump Babes have announced a new album, led by the single "Citronette."
Known Liar arrives May 13 as the follow-up to 2022's niya kîminîcâkan. According to press notes, it sees the Saskatoon band reckon with the tragic death of their founding bass player, Jill Mack.
"It was an overwhelmingly painful experience which we are still processing, however, the clarity of death tends to remind us what is truly important in this world," singer-songwriter Aurora Wolfe said in a statement. "When Jill first got sick, her friends, family, and greater community rallied around her at an unprecedented level. This outpouring of compassion and support speaks to our human desire to care for each other."
Wolfe went on to describe Known Liar as "a refinement to our distinct sound," bringing forward the more danceable, retro-inspired elements and driving, lyric-driven melodies. "This album represents a lot of tears, hugs, and laughter and we hope that it'll remind everyone to hold your pals close."
Of the lead single, the singer-songwriter added:
I wrote this song after painting my entire office (including the ceiling) this electric green colour this past summer. The whole process felt a little manic, especially with the intense colour that I chose. I thought that the colour had a really beautiful — almost delicate — name that contrasted how bright it was. The song ended up turning into a metaphor for keeping yourself busy so you don't have to feel things, like grief. Also, one of my favourite artists and mentors Ruth Cuthand has a series of paintings with a very similar green as the background, and she's talked about how for her the colour really represented a feeling of anxiety and suffocation.
Listen to the brooding "Citronette," which finds Dumb Babes dialling up the heaviness of their self-described "trash-pop" stylings, below.