It’s a bit too early to be this emotional. However, David Bazan’s new tracks — an original called “Your Bearings” and a cover of Gillian Welch’s “Revelator” — are rich, immersive piano ballads that are worth the sadness. With lyrics co-written by Gia Margaret, “Your Bearings” is especially dark, its each syllable held out long enough to the point where every word from Bazan’s mouth sounds tragic: “The river keeps repeating/ Shouldn’t you be able to figure it out/ But someone’s trying to tell you/ Here it comes again.”

Not counting a couple songs with his side project Lo Tom, these songs are Bazan’s first new release since the Pedro The Lion reunion album Phoenix in 2019. His Bandcamp page says they are “the first in a series of recordings we’ll be releasing this year.” Listen below.