The last time Meg Duffy released a Hand Habits album it was in 2019, when they unveiled the stunning placeholder. Over the course of 2020, Duffy kept popping up: guesting on Jess Williamson and Quarter-Life Crisis songs, covering Tom Petty with Angel Olsen. Recently Duffy was teasing a third album, produced by Sasami Ashworth, on Instagram, prompting us to place Hand Habits amongst the most anticipated albums of 2021.

Duffy’s back today with some news, but it’s not about that third album. Instead, they’re about to release an EP called dirt. There’s one original track co-produced by Ashworth and a Neil Young cover worked on by King Tuff’s Kyle Thomas. (The three were living together in LA, and a press release teases “this new single just may serve as a bridge toward a greater body of work the three will ultimately create together.”) The EP’s third and final song, available only on the digital edition, is a Katie Dey remix of “what’s the use.”

Along with the announcement, Duffy has shared the Sasami-produced “4th Of July,” which also comes with a video directed by V Haddad. “‘4th of july’ feels like trying again, rolling around in the wreckage of the past and finding new ways out of the maze of memory,” Duffy said in a statment. “For the video, I went to V and Adam and said I wanted to ‘just dig a hole’ and they turned that idea into a cinematic version of what it looks like to try and get to the bottom of a feeling.” Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “4th Of July”
02 “I Believe In You”
03 “What’s The Use (Katie Dey Remix)”

The dirt EP is out 2/19 via Saddle Creek. Pre-order it here.