It’s been almost three years since the lovable Canadian duo/Band To Watch Partner released their debut album, In Search Of Lost Time. Since then, they’ve never gone away for long, whether it was last year’s Saturday The 14th EP or having fun with a Rush cover. Back in March, they returned with a new song called “Good Place To Hide (At The Time).” It was a standalone single, but it also arrived with news of Partner having been in the studio at the end of 2019 and having a sophomore album ready to go sometime this year.

Well, looks like we might be getting closer to that second album making it out into the world. Today, the duo returned with a new song called “Hello And Welcome.” It finds their stoned classic rockisms and sense of humor alike very much intact. Riding a big, chunky riff, the song has a chorus beamed in from a long lost era of arena rock and filtered through a more DIY background. And then there’s also a fried Southern rock guitar freakout. It’s hard to think of a lot of other young bands playing with the same kind of history Partner do here, and as always it’s fun to have them back.

“Hello And Welcome” also comes with a pretty batshit and entertaining animated video, created by Dustin Apodaca. At first Partner are onstage, decked out in some extremely arena rock outfits. But then they rock out maybe just a bit too hard, and they blast off into space, where they (and their guitar) are intercepted by an alien. Then they have to try and make it back home to Earth. Check it out below.