Deerhoof’s new album Miracle-Level is, remarkably, their first recorded entirely in a professional studio. It’s also the first written entirely in Satomi Matsuzaki’s native Japanese. We’ve previously heard two upbeat tracks called “Sit Down, Let Me Tell You A Story” and “My Lovely Cat!” Today they share something a bit different.

New single “Wedding, March, Flower” finds Matsuzaki on drums and normal drummer Greg Saunier on lead vocals, singing Japanese lyrics written by Matsuzaki. A love song arriving just in time for Valentine’s Day, it’s a soft, sparse ballad that veers far outside the standard Deerhoof template, if such a template can even be said to exist. A statement from Saunier:

I was flirting with my partner Sophie and sent her a video of me humming and playing the piano. Deerhoof was starting to get songs together for our next record. No one had suggested we needed any tender piano ballads, but Sophie convinced me to show it to my bandmates anyway. I was so touched when they were into it. The real kicker came when Satomi wrote lyrics. They were in Japanese, so when we first rehearsed it, I wasn’t even sure what I was singing. But Satomi had written a love song about a wedding. Satomi and I ended our marriage over 10 years ago, and it hasn’t always been easy for any of us to keep the band going. Our songs have always been one way that we all process our feelings with each other. Co-writing and performing “Wedding March Flower” with her was really intense.

Watch the studio-shot music video for “Wedding, March, Flower” below.

Miracle-Level is out 3/31 on Joyful Noise.