Brooklyn pop experimenters and O.G. Band To Watch TEEN, the sister combo of Teeny, Lizzie, and Katherine Lieberson, have been around for nearly a decade now, with three albums and two EPs of their strange soulful, psych-pop under their belt. Today they’ve announced their latest record, Good Fruit with its lead single “Only Water,” on which the sisters contemplate their father’s death.

It’s a surprisingly upbeat, weightless song to address such a heavy subject, beginning in folksy-electro contemplation and mounting into a glittery disco-tinged pop number. Teeny takes lead vocals, singing calmly, almost diagnostically about her last moments with her father over pulsating percussion and upbeat, jittery synths. Her sisters join in for muted but lovely harmony on the verses, and contribute a fracas of operatic vocal loops on the chorus. The song’s offbeat, asymmetrical production matched with the pastoral harmonies and philosophical musings hint of a HAIM-infused Dirty Projectors.

“Only Water” is ultimately more about spiritual curiosity than mourning. Teeny repeats the query, “If we’re only water/ Can’t I make you mine/ If we’re only water/ Aren’t we one in time?” over and over again.

In a press release she explains:

“Only Water” tells the story of my experience of my father’s sickness and death. It explores the final moments that I had with him, as well as the processing of the loss of a parent. As it has been many years since his death, my relationship to losing him has changed. I have been thinking a lot about the idea of possession and how it can even exist once someone has died. The song questions this principle; if we are all water, can’t I have you? Can I be you? Which in, abstractly, is a celebration of letting go. The freedom within oneness as well as nothingness.

Listen and watch the sisters’ charming dance moves in the Charles Billot-directed, Novia Scotia-shot video below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Popular Taste”
02 “Ripe”
03 “Only Water”
04 “Radar”
05 “Connection”
06 “Luv 2 Luv”
07 “Shadow”
08 “Runner”
09 “Putney”
10 “Pretend”

TOUR DATES:
01/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right %
03/11-3/17 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/19 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo #
03/20 San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord #
03/22 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #
03/23 Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
03/29 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere #
03/30 Washington, DC @ DC9 #
# – with Methyl Ethel
% – with CLAVVS

Good Fruit is out 3/1 on Carpark Records. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Hannah Whitaker