Frances Quinlan started Hop Along as a solo project way back in 2005 under the name Hop Along, Queen Ansleis. Over the last decade, the Philadelphia-based musician has fronted a band that’s been responsible for three stellar albums — most recently, 2018’s Bark Your Head Off, Dog — but she’s returning to her solo roots for a new album, Likewise, that’ll come out early next year.

She made the album with Hop Along bandmate Joe Reinhart, who recorded it at his Philly studio the Headroom. “Working with Joe on this made me able to better see that the guitar is just one vehicle … there are so many others to explore,” Quinlan said in a press release for the album.

Its lead single, “Rare Thing,” certainly expands on the sonic makeup of your typical Hop Along song — there’s tinny drums and little synth wiggles and twinkling harps. (Those harps come courtesy of Mary Lattimore!) And then there’s Quinlan’s magnificent voice, both physically and lyrically, which keeps it tightly in line with what you’d expect from her main project: “I know that there is love that doesn’t have to do with taking something from somebody,” she sings on this one.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Piltdown Man”
02 “Your Reply”
03 “Rare Thing”
04 “Detroit Lake”
05 “A Secret”
06 “Went To LA”
07 “Lean”
08 “Now That I’m Back”
09 “Carry The Zero” (Built To Spill Cover)

TOUR DATES:
01/19 Chicago, IL @ Tomorrow Never Knows Festival – Sleeping Village
03/01 San Francisco, CA @ Noise Pop – Swedish American Music Hall
03/03 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
03/05 Seattle, WA @ Columbia City Theater
03/12 Los Angeles, CA @ Pico Union Project
03/14 San Diego, CA @ Casbah

Likewise is out 1/31 via Saddle Creek. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Julia Khorosilov