urgencytobleed | Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us (May 20th)

Mates of State

I've posted about the other albums coming out in the next couple of months that I'm extremely excited about, but not this one yet, so let's fix that right now! Mates of State consists of husband and wife duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner and their sound is pretty expansive and full for it being just the two of them, usually with organ/keyboards and drums as the only instrumentation. Their last release, Bring It Back, saw them maturing and varying their sound a bit more - without sacrificing any of the charming harmonies or infectious energy of their back catalogue. Re-Arrange Us, out May 20th on Barsuk records, seems to take this concept even further. The first single, "Get Better", is as catchy as ever but in a more subtle way; the lyrics are more mature and less abstract and - gasp! - piano and strings have even replaced their signature organ sounds. But it all works. I have to admit, I was a bit iffy about the song on first listen because it wasn't what I was expecting, but now that I've heard it a few times, I've grown to love it and I can't wait to hear what else is in store. Check out the song and its strangely adorable video below, along with a track from each of their previous albums - if you haven't listened to Mates of State before, now is the time to do so! Recommended for fans of Tilly and the Wall and similar energetic indie pop bands, but really, everyone should love them if they know what's good for them. ;)

You can pre-order Re-Arrange Us now at Mates of States' official webstore, with or without a special edition t-shirt.

And so that this post isn't completely devoid of downloads, here are some of my favorite Mates songs, one from each of their four albums and one EP. Enjoy!