New Music and Big Pop, by Another Michael (2024)

1.

We were up late online talking about new musicAnd you sent me a link to a song that I’d never heard beforeI need to get my headphones onJust think about the long pause after it’s goneAnd never forget the times I was wrongI swear I’ll follow alongI was thinking about New EnglandAnd all the things that I love to sayI was hoping to have my voice match up to the singers in every stateI am thinking about my own life and for that I feel ashamedEvery morning when it rainsI want to be in on all of thisIt seems crazy not to playAnd I want to make something timelessThe time isn’t on my wristI am willing to hold myself and put up with this awful lonelinessI’m kind of new

2.

Thought I saw you take a swing at the doorI thought I saw your funny note on the floorIt was crowded and I didn't like what we were talking aboutOh I,I know you're wrongTexted me a smiley face and a boatI thought about running out in the coldIt was dire, and I couldn't write what we were talking aboutOh I, I know you're wrongAlbany is overdue for snowWant to see the cars stop moving

3.

I've been here for a long timeThere's gratitude in my eyesFull and open and so shyChristopher on a cold nightI go wandering with heightThe damage was all rightWhat gives?I'll go uponA fix?You know the oddsThere's a rough tide in the Gulf Stream watersI'm drinking coffee in the basem*ntYour pitter-patter does the trickThe deed is done and it's so sickComment on itFeel religiousI don’t want you to think I'm superstitiousWhat gives?I'll go uponA fix?You know the oddsThere's a rough tide in the Gulf Stream waters

4.

We spend money on the things we need the mostAnd I can’t slow downThought I saw you coming from a mile awayAnd I was wrongAnd I can’t hold backI’m thinking of my day as I goAnd that’s whyWe kept looking down and listening to dance musicI love my hometownThought I saw you crying in a silent wayAnd I was rightEnough is enoughI’m thinking of my day as I goThere’s something ‘bout the ledgers and the notesWhatever, I can copeSomething ‘bout a story, you chokeI’m thinking of my day as I go

5.

Big pop, Lemon drop, sipping the whole way throughTiptop, Circus cop, I’ve got something crazy to tell youYeah I’ve been hoping and praying, it’s nothing newYou’re an amazing artist, thank youNo one else taps into my brain with truth, you know what to doI can’t stop counting and I know I’m not supposed toBig time, circle line, headed out to achieveConcept of a person makes it hard to see what we can believeSo come over, let me show you that I can lay down a beatAnd then you can make a melody and put it on top of meMake a single, make a ballad, make a mockery of-You know what I meanI can’t stop counting and I know it’s not to be a retreatNot too far from hell, not too far from heavenI’ve got a job today; I’m going to be okayFeeling like I’ve never felt so muchOn the way to where you crushGot to get back to where you belongTick tock, I’m a clock, wouldn’t have it any other wayI’m fine, but I know a lot of people who are feeling a bad waySo come over todayAnd just tell me that it’ll be okayNothing’s wrong with this, no there’s nothing wrong with thisI can’t stop counting and I know I’m not supposed to

6.

As soon as the morning hits, it’s summerAnd the lists we make are getting longerI don’t want to be a bummer in these darker timesNext Tuesday you’re leaving and it’s bringing me downI think you are such a palLet’s get ice cream, let’s go somewhere with no parking lotsWho will tell me what the hell is going on?This afternoon I feel frozen, in my target bathing suitAnd I can’t take nothing away from youLately I’ve been dressing a bit more normalBut still act mad weird like I’ve been all these yearsHey things don’t feel as personal as they used to (it’s true)“What am I doing here?” is rightWhat gives me the right?I should just be paying less attention to the lights, and the cameras, and the action in my phoneYeah, who’s going to tell me what the hell is going on?What’s up with you?You tell me in the darkest part of the roomAnd I can’t sleep; I can’t feel my heartbeat in the loopWhen I’m falling where I’m falling, am I destined to?Yeah I want to find the only road that’s more of the truthIs it with or without you?

7.

Water’s flowing over, here I goWater’s flowing over, here I goI don’t know what to tell him lately, but I love him soWater’s flowing over, here I goBuilding a boat to assure you I’m composedBuilding a boat to assure you I’m composedI can be pretty tired and lazy, but I want you all to knowThat I’m building a boat to assure you that I’m composedGrab me a grab bag, will ya? Need some thingsGrab me a grab bag, will ya? Need some thingsIt’s a sign, a rhyme, a cymbal of a sound, a ringGrab me a grab bag, will ya?Grab me a grab bag, will ya?Walk out the door if you need me, I’m not homeWalk out the door if you need me, I’m not homeWhat’ll you do on our own in the hour of stone?Walk out the door if you need me, I’m not home

8.

I tried hard to connectI threw it out the windowIt does not even affect big sky, big groundMove me around like a satelliteSo you know what it feels like after a fight?And the road, what it looks like after a flight?What it looks like after awhile?And you forget about your choices from your worst daysAnd you want to know the reason why they could not stayDo you want to row the difference?Well ha, will you look back when you’re seventy-five?Super crossed liarI go walking back outsideCalifornia on my mindI go walking back outsideWith California on my mindI say “peace out” to the lightAnd what it feels like after a fight in the roadWhat it looks like after a flightWhat it looks like after awhile(What it looks like)And you forget about your choices from your worst daysAnd you want to know the reason why they could not stayDo you want to row the difference?Well ha, will you look back when you’re seventy-five?And you forget about your choices from your worst daysAnd you want to let the breeze in, but you blew it awayDo you want to row the difference?Well ha, will you look back when you’re seventy-five?Super crossed liar

9.

I’ve got time; I think I’ll go for a rideThere's not much time to go for a rideAnd I keep losing all wheel drive, passenger sideWell all right, I’m going to cross the linePunched my eye, shouldn't have crossed that lineWhat does it feel like?A sucked up night with some yellow lightAnything more specific might break my heartI’m mad tired, stayed up and talked for a whileI’ll do whateverNot good at choosing, but it's not my faultI was never taughtHumming along to a great record that Evan showed me last weekWalking past the place that my new friends work at once a weekRehearsingAnything more specific might break my heart

10.

At a friend's house making dinnerWe use lots of ingredientsCan’t decide on flavor or focus on the directionsFeeling free and fancy like a featherfloating up and then downI’ll commit to something in a secondOr several years from nowAnd several years from nowIn the center of townI’ll take a look aroundHospitality boundFlat tired outConversations, asking questionsUse my head like a shaky camCommon goals are electricSimple connectionsHollow fears in the early evening fly by my house againIt’s not often that I notice a sunsetSo point it out againSeveral years from nowIn the center of townI’ll take a look aroundHospitality boundFlat tired outIn and out of focusAre we focusing enough?RoughIn and out of focusAre we focusing too much?Tough

For Another Michael, it all boils down to trust. In mid-2017, the critically acclaimed indie three-piece packed their bags and collectively relocated from Albany, NY to a shared house in West Philadelphia. This move signaled not only the start of a new chapter for the trio, but also a deepening of the bonds that would come to define their captivating debut LP, ‘New Music and Big Pop.’

“It’s hard for a group of people to get closer than living together,” says bassist and producer Nick Sebastiano. “The stronger our connection grew, the more it shaped the music we found ourselves making.”

It should come as little surprise, then, that ‘New Music and Big Pop’ is Another Michael’s most collaborative work yet. Recorded in a small A-frame house-turned-makeshift studio outside Ferndale, NY, the record finds the trio pushing their sound in a dreamier, more folk-influenced direction, building songs around vulnerable, intimate performances using an ethereal palette of breezy guitars, subtle keyboards, and layered harmonies. As on the band’s early EPs, singer and songwriter Michael Doherty’s mesmerizing voice is front and center here, calling to mind Robin Pecknold or Ben Bridwell in its reedy, crystalline timbre, but it feels more at home than ever before amidst the album’s lush, Technicolor landscape, which the band partnered with producer and fellow housemate Scoops Dardaris to create. The result is a masterfully understated record that belies its status as a full-length debut, a thoughtful, poetic, collection all about growth and change, hope and faith, endings and beginnings, delivered by a band that’s only just begun to scratch the surface of their story.

“Recording a full-length album was something we’d been talking about doing for a while,” says Doherty, “but I think we needed to take our time and get here organically. We had to figure out who we were as a band first.”

Launched initially as a solo project, Another Michael began garnering national attention with a pair of early EPs—2016’s ‘Sans’ and 2018’s ‘Land’—that synthesized an astonishingly broad range of influence, from lo-fi bedroom pop and dense chamber folk to PC music and electronic R&B. The sound reflected the eclectic nature of Doherty’s voracious musical appetite, which he honed through a lifetime of careful listening.

“I’ve always been obsessed with discovery,” he explains. “As a kid, I was really into pop radio, and as I got older, I started finding music through MTV and VH1, and then through the internet. I’d listen to everything I could get my hands on, from Damien Rice and Bright Eyes to Usher and Kanye West to Radiohead and Dirty Projectors.”

When launching the band, Doherty found ideal partners in Sebastiano, who grew up loving R&B and dance music, and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Alenni Davis, who got their start in the video game and classical worlds, and critics quickly took note of the band’s intoxicating chemistry. The Deli praised Doherty’s “clear-headed, stream-of-consciousnesslyrics,” while Bandcamp Best Finds called the band’s sound “fresh and poignant in the most beautiful way,” and The Collaborative Magazine hailed their “breathtakingly peaceful songs about feeling chronically anxious.” The group toured extensively in support of both releases, eventually fleshing out their road lineup with a drummer, whose presence helped influence the music’s evolution.

“When we started touring with a drummer, it really changed how I approached my role in the band,” says Davis. “I started gravitating more towards effects pedals and experimenting with sound and rhythm in ways that I never had before.”

That spirit of experimentation lies at the heart of ‘New Music and Big Pop,’ which bears the distinct fingerprints of all three bandmates, from Sebastiano’s buoyant bass lines and Davis’ warm, open tuning guitar arrangements to Doherty’s gentle finger-picking and evocative lyricism, which focuses as much on the sound of the words as their meaning. While some of the material on the album dates back to the group’s earliest days, the vast majority of it was written after the move to Philadelphia, and very little of it was ever demoed or rehearsed before work on the album began. Instead, the band treated these songs as a space for free-range discovery and exploration, building tracks up spontaneously and together in the moment.

That sonic freedom and deep emotional connection colors nearly every aspect of the album, which opens with the hypnotic “New Music.” Slow and steady, the track builds from a spare, fingerpicked intro to a sweeping, cinematic finale as Doherty reflects on the simple joy of falling in love with a song (and perhaps the person who shared it with you, as well). It’s an ideal entry point into the record, which balances beauty and uncertainty in equal measure as it takes an often meta look at what it means to devote your life to music. The driving “I Know You’re Wrong,” for instance, grapples with the day-to-day realities that pull us away from our creative pursuits, while the airy “What Gives?” relishes in the satisfaction that comes with crafting something out of nothing, and the playful “Big Pop” celebrates music’s power to communicate the otherwise inexplicable.

“For a long time, I thought writing music about music was taboo, that songwriting needed to just focus on your personal life experiences,” says Doherty. “But then I realized that listening to music actually is a huge part of my personal life experiences. It felt so liberating to let go on this record and embrace how powerful music can be and what an important role it’s played in shaping who I am.”

While Doherty frequently finds comfort in his relationship with art and music on the album, his relationship with himself and other humans tends to be a bit more complicated. The melancholic “What The Hell Is Going On?” struggles to connect with a lover before they depart for good, while the swirling “Shaky Cam” frets over the inherent frailty of our physical and mental health, and the wistful “Hone” tries to find something, anything to fill the emptiness that perpetually lurks inside of us.

“In a way, my goal as a songwriter is to pack down these big life experiences into something that can breeze by and feel almost casual,” says Doherty. “I’m trying to tell a story using fragments of the big picture, focusing on these little moments and tiny details as a way of making sense of everything around me.”

Indeed, the world can be a chaotic, confusing, heartbreaking place. It takes guts to face it openly and honestly, to lower your guard and let others in, but ‘New Music and Big Pop’ proves that the rewards will always outweigh the risk. All you need is trust.