Lies typically have a negative connotation — they’re how we hide what we really feel, they’re what we want to cover up, what we want to run away from. But Jennifer O’Connor flips the word on its head on “It’s A Lie,” the second single off her upcoming new album, Surface Noise. A lie is freedom, a lie is something that’s holding us back — “All the things you think you can’t change/ All the love you had, but let fade/ It’s a lie.” We can get back what we lost, we can adapt and get better. O’Connor has been making plainspoken and intimate singer-songwriter fare since she started her own label, Kiam Records, back in 2002, and her new record feels like the next logical step in that journey. “It’s A Lie” is clean-cut and hopeful, centered and grounded — the undulating bassline comes courtesy of Yo La Tengo’s James McNew, the rest of the song comfortably scratches around it. Listen below.

Tour Dates:
02/26 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater *
02/27 Buffalo, NY @ Babeville *
02/28 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre *
03/01 Portland, ME @ State Theater *
03/03 Lebanon, NH @ Lebanon Opera House *
03/04 Tarrytown, NY @ Tarrytown Music Hall *
03/05 Troy, NY @ Troy Music Hall *
03/07 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (Record Release Show) ^

* w/ Neko Case
^ w/ Amy Bezunartea

Surface Noise is out 3/4 via Kiam Records. You can pre-order it here.