Hand Habits :: Blue Reminder

From the opening moments of “More Today,” it’s clear that Blue Reminder will be lush and lucid, its massive drum-and-guitar onset giving way to smoke-y, smoldering, blues-nodding torch song. “And if this ends tomorrow…/no actually I just don’t want it to,” Duffy muses, getting at the central paradox that our happiest moments contain the seed of later sadness. Because really, this is an album written in contentment but aware of its impermanence. It’s the chill through the weighted blanket, the prickle of unease in a shared laugh with loved ones. We’re always dying, always failing, always breaking up, even when it seems like we’re on top.

Hand Habits :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Meg Duffy talks about their process, the liberating effect of working with an out queer artist like Perfume Genius and the way that the meanings of songs shift over time. “One of my favorite things about making records is that I learn about what the meaning is, later, after it’s out,” they confide.