“Hold me, don’t let me go,” Nicole Schneit sings repeatedly on “Milky Way,” the first single from her upcoming album Parting Glances. On paper, that comes across as either a desperate plea or a romantic affirmation of love — or both — but tumbling casually out in Schneit’s unassuming and unaffected alto, it just sounds like a statement. She follows it up by asking “Can anyone settle?” but the plainspoken melancholy in her voice suggests that she already knows the answer. Named after a Steve Buscemi movie, recorded with Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere, and featuring contributions from Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter and members of Crystal Stilts, Ava Luna, and Hospitality, Parting Glances is Schneit and her band’s second collection of deceptively simple pop songs exploring the power and transience of human connection. “Milky Way” demonstrates that it’s one worth paying attention to, and you can listen below.

Parting Glances is out 9/18 on Western Vinyl.