The Philadelphia-based art pop trio Lizdelise has announced a new album, I Swore I Heard You Laughing, which will be released on Sept. 15 via New York indie label Sheer Luck. The band has shared the project’s leadoff single “Tornado,” along with a captivating music video.
I Swore I Heard You Laughing follows 2019’s self-released album Holy Matrimony, and the band’s 2021 EP Body, released on Sheer Luck. In addition, Lizdelise’s Bandcamp discography stretches back to 2016 and the debut project Meat from Bone. The band is rooted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Lizzy de Lise and bassist Mark Watter, the latter being the studio manager at Philly’s renowned Headroom Studios. Since Watter’s involvement began in 2016, this has been Lizdelise’s home base for the majority of their recording. For their new record, the band met with Andy Shack of Wye Oak in Chapel Hill, NC in order to collaboratively produce and record new music.
“Tornado” is a combination of electronic and live instrumentation, built around a tight, staccato drum pattern. Performed by Alyssa Resh, the percussion sounds similar to that of a vintage drum machine, meshing well with the traditional indie rock style of the textured electric guitars and de Lise’s lead vocals. De Lise and Stack contributed layers of synth melody and detail on top of this. “Tornado” builds to an echoing, clouded climax with vocals calling out for cooperation. The urgency is emphasized in a music video, with scenes of the lead singer running through the mountains and climbing sheer faces of rock, searching for an answer.
The new album will contain seven tracks, two of which are out now. The song “WMN” was released on June 7th, 2022 as a standalone single, and has received multiple remixes throughout the past year. It confronts de Lise’s coming out as a gender-fluid person, stating “I’m not the woman that you think I am / What would you say if I told you / I’m not a woman at all” in the chorus.
Lizdelise will appear in Wilmington, DE on July 15 for the Shady Grove Music Fest. I Swore I Heard You Laughing is available for preorder through the group’s Bandcamp, and “Tornado” is available to stream here.