Most relationships aren’t built to last. There are a series of failed attempts, and we learn from those until — eventually and hopefully — you find the right one. But those near-misses can be for the better, even when you know they won’t be forever. Madeline Meyer looks back on one such relationship on “Slippery,” the third song we’ve heard from Littler’s upcoming debut album: “Our love gripped like ice/ Then spring came, and we melted into each other/ Slippery.” The growth is in the dissolution, but we’ll always have those free associations that will remind us of the time spent together: “Loving you will always be…” Meyer recalls, reciting a list of things like “seltzer” and “barbecues” that evoke a specific but insular relationship, inside jokes from a different time. The music’s more muted that what we’ve heard on “Somewhere Else” and “Not My Market,” more appropriate for the sentimental nature of the track. But there’s a perky riff that kicks in on the back-half that’s reminiscent of the choppiness of early Sleater-Kinney, suggesting some sort of progress and forward momentum. Listen via Impose below.

Of Wandering is out 3/25 via Birdtapes.