Back in 2016, Dre Babinski released her debut album as Steady Holiday, Under The Influence, a dreamy collection of songs that had a ghostly afterimage. Today, she’s announcing its follow-up, Nobody’s Watching, which was produced by Gus Seyffert. She spent the time in between the two albums touring and becoming increasingly terrified at the state of the world around us. Her new album confronts that fear head-on through a series of sketches that demonstrate bad people have been in play since the beginning of time and that evil is nothing new.

Its lead single and title track was written from a different perspective. “I’m speaking as someone who has connived their way to the top here,” Babinski says. “Desensitized and matter-of-fact about their means of survival. It’s not an apology, just an explanation.”

“Nobody’s Watching” is shaggy and casual, synths cascading like a devilish grin. “It’s not personal this time, I’m here to survive/ So I smile and we shake, then I sharpen my blade,” Babinski sings, inhabiting a cut-throat character. “I’ll just take a little off the top if no one’s paying attention,” she repeats towards the end. But despite being about a gross character, it’s surprisingly likable — it feels like you’re thanking them as they’re stealing your money.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Flying Colors”
02 “Mothers”
03 “Who’s Gonna Stop us”
04 “Nobody’s Watching”
05 “All Aboard”
06 “Love And Pressure”
07 “Eastern Comfort”
08 “Trapping Season”
09 “Exit Song”
10 “Desperate Times”

TOUR DATES:
11/07 Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
11/08 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
11/10 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
11/12 Boston, MA @ Middle East (Upstairs)
11/14 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
11/15 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
11/17 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord (Noise Pop)
11/18 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg
11/19 San Diego, CA @ Casbah

Nobody’s Watching is out 8/24 via Barsuk Records. Pre-order it here.