Usually when songwriters invoke the color blue, they’re expressing sadness. Shannon Lay has delivered a more complex treatment of the hue. Her new single “Blue” is an organic post-midnight mirage, sparse and somber and unimaginably pretty. And although there’s some negative emotion at play — the hopeless discouragement that can follow a lover’s quarrel, to be exact — the title manifests in a word of reassurance: “I will love you ’til my hair turns blue.”

Alongside B-side “We Mend,” “Blue” is Lay’s contribution to the Sub Pop Singles Club. Her 7″ and a collection of early Shins rarities comprise the December 2019 installment of the subscription-only series. Both of the new Lay songs were recorded during the sessions for August, Lay’s first album for Sub Pop, released this past summer.

Volume 4 of the singles club has long been sold out, but Sub Pop is now selling subscriptions for Volume 5, which will run from April 2020 to February 2021. As usual, the mix of participating artists includes Sub Pop signees like Father John Misty and crossovers from other labels like Ohmme, Sumac, and Clarke And The Himselfs. The cost is $130 (US), $170 (Canada), $185 (Mexico), or $195 (rest of world). Subscribe here.

Hear “Blue” and “We Mend” below.

And while you’re here check out these officially released Oh, Inverted World-era Shins rarities too. They include “When I Goose-Step,” “The Gloating Sun,” and an early version of “New Slang” subtitled “When You Notice The Stripes.” The three tracks were originally released on a tour-only CD EP in 1999, and then Omnibus Records put out “Goose-Step” and “Gloating” on a 7″ the same year, which is out of print. Sub Pop then shared “New Slang (When You Notice the Stripes)” on a 7″ in 2001, which is also out of print. And now they’re all online! (OK, they were on YouTube for years before this, but now they’re officially online.)