Florist, the New York quartet of Emily Sprague, Jonnie Baker, Rick Spataro and Felix Walworth, have announced their self-titled, fourth full-length album, coming July 29 on Double Double Whammy, and shared a video for its lead single, the tender and reflective “Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning).”
Over soft acoustic fingerpicking, blurred electric guitar and the occasional synth bloop, Sprague reflects on the loss of her late mother, imagining her own birth from her perspective, and reconciling herself to the vagaries of memory and the absolute power of time. “How can it be that the days go on / And the red bird sings its red bird song? / It happened to us and it’s happened before / And it happens all the same,” she sings, at one with nature even as she resents its ceaseless rhythm. Distorted bent notes and delicate saxophone enter as Sprague reaches a stunning moment of peace and acceptance: “I can hear you singing still / Wake up in the morning, let the morning come / She’s in the birdsong, she won’t be gone.”
“This song is the introduction to Florist, an album journey very much about the celebration of the people in our lives and the massive importance of connection,” Sprague explains in a statement. “It is lyrically and spiritually a continuation of where Florist left off 5 years ago at the end of If Blue Could Be Happiness. We recorded the song to 1/2” tape on a screened-in porch in June. The nature sounds are live. The birds really sang along.”
Florist is described in a press release as a “companion” to 2019’s Emily Alone, which was “essentially a [Sprague] solo album released under the Florist moniker.” This time around, Sprague wanted to emphasize the band’s togetherness, down to their living and recording together in a rented house in the Hudson Valley.
“We called it Florist because this is not just my songs with a backing band,” Sprague explains. “It’s a practice. It’s a collaboration. It’s our one life. These are my best friends and the music is the way that it is because of that.”
Watch the “Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)” video below, and see the details of Florist further down.
Florist Tracklist:
01. June 9th Nighttime
02. Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)
03. Duet For Guitar and Rain
04. Spring in Hours
05. Bells Pt. 1
06. Two
07. Variation
08. Organ’s Drone
09. Duet For 2 Eyes
10. Reprise
11. 43
12. Bells Pt. 2
13. River’s Bed
14. Sci-Fi Silence
15. Finally
16. Dandelion
17. Bells Pt. 3
18. Feathers
19. Jonnie On The Porch
Florist Art:
