Back in October, chillwave OGs Small Black returned with “Tampa,” their first new song in five years. As is often the case, the song was a precursor to a new album announcement. A new Small Black LP called Cheap Dreams is dropping in April on 100% Electronica, the label run by George Clanton and Lindsey French.

In the six years since 2015’s Best Blues, Small Black have been busy with the normal stuff (births and deaths in the family) and some not so normal stuff (bassist Juan Pieczanski’s emails with Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta was part of the 2016 Wikileaks dump — and yes, as with Tom DeLonge, the correspondence was about UFOs). Now, having finished Cheap Dreams during the pandemic, they’re ready to roll it out this spring.

Our next preview of the album, “Duplex,” is out today. A statement from lead singer Josh Kolenik:

We finished writing & recording “Duplex” way before the world shut down last March, but the lyrics seemed oddly prophetic to me as we were doing the final mix. “Walking in the house alone – Pray on the ottoman – Amen for one.” I was originally thinking about the absurdity of feeling alone amid the 9 million of us in NYC and yet suddenly, we were all isolated without much of a choice in the matter. In those weeks spent listening to the quiet out our Brooklyn windows, only broken by the occasional siren, unsure where the city or the world was headed, the song took on a new meaning.

Watch Ryan Draybuck’s “Duplex” video below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Tampa”
02 “Duplex”
03 “Postcard”
04 “Waterworks”
05 “Driftwood Fire”
06 “The Bridge”
07 “Service Merchandise”
08 “Cheap Dreams”
09 “Nobody Loves You”
10 “Dunes”
11 “Song To Ruin”

Cheap Dreams is out 4/9 on 100% Electronica. Pre-order it here.