“Tenderness,” the second single following “Full Screen” from Adult Mom’s forthcoming sophomore album, Soft Spots, turns vulnerability into something tactile, a thing that can be shaped and changed at someone else’s will. That malleability can be used to both comforting and painful ends: “Take a hard hit, and be careful with this,” Stephanie Knipe warns, and the band reacts by cutting through the song’s pillowy warmth with a sharp burst of noise.

“‘Tenderness’ was an attempt at a love song, originally intended to portray happiness and care in a relationship,” Knipe told The Fader. “It evolved in a way to be much more about vulnerability and how to be in ‘good’ love with someone when trauma is what love has been based off of for so long. I feel the song acts as both this warning to a lover — like, This is going to be really hard for me, to accept your love — and also as an acceptance of why it’s hard, and eventually how beautiful it all is.”

Listen below.

Tour Dates:
04/20 Purchase, NY @ SUNY – The Stood
05/10 Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space *
05/11 Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall *
05/12 Asbury Park, NJ @ House Of Independents *
05/13 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street *
05/14 Amityville, NY @ Amityville Music Hall *
05/17 Bethlehem, PA @ Blast Furnace Room *
05/18 Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt *
05/20 Brooklyn, NY @ The Silent Barn (Release Show)
05/31 Philadelphia, PA @ Everybody Hits #
06/01 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter #
06/02 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 #
06/03 Atlanta, Ga @ Casa Nova #
06/04 Tallahassee, FL @ House #
06/05 New Orleans, LA @ TBA #
06/06 Houston, TX @ Water’s #
06/07 Austin, TX @ Shirley’s Temple #
06/08 Marfa, TX @ El Cosmico #
06/09 Tucson, AZ @ PoMoRo #
06/10 Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space #
06/11 Pomona, CA @ VLHS #
06/12 Los Angeles, CA @ Jr. High #
06/13 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
06/14 Arcata, CA @ Outer Space #
06/15 Portland, OR @ TBA #
06/16 Olympia, OR @ New Moon Cafe #
06/17 Tacoma, WA @ Real Arts #
06/18 Seattle, WA @ Vera Project #
06/19 Bellingham WA @ Make Shift #
06/21 Missoula, MT @ ZACC (Zoo Arts Community Center) #
06/22 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court #
06/23 Denver, CO @ TBA #
06/24 Omaha, NE @ Milk Run #
06/25 Iowa City, IA @ Trumpet Blossom Cafe #
06/26 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry #
06/27 Madison, WI @ Williamson Magnetic #
06/28 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean #
06/29 Detroit, MI @ Trumbullplex #
06/30 Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness #
07/01 Pittsburgh, PA @ Roboto Project #
07/02 Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory #
07/03 Boston, MA @ Once #

* w/ Kevin Devine
# w/ Free Cake For Every Creature

Soft Spots is out 5/19 via Tiny Engines.