Young Jesus have announced a new album, The Fool, which will be out in May. After the release of 2022’s Shepherd Head, the project’s leader and now sole member John Rossiter apparently decided to quit music to focus on gardening full-time, though that did not last for long. A meeting with Shahzad Ismaily inspired him to continue on, and he worked on these songs with fellow musicians Alex Babbitt and Alex Lappin and recorded some of them at Shahzad’s Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn.

A couple months ago, album track “The Weasel” was featured in the closing credits of the FX show A Murder At The End Of The World. Today, Young Jesus are sharing the album’s proper lead single, “Brenda & Diane.” Here’s what Rossiter had to say about it:

Brenda and Diane are on the run. The main character thinks he’s better than them. But sits down to talk to them, to humor them. Sees that they have a whole, complex life. Humbling for the main character and his sense of superiority and judgment. Brenda and Diane invite him into life.
 
As with many of these songs, recording this tune mirrored the content of the song. Alex Lappin, the producer, really challenged me to craft a narrative with the vocal delivery. I was resistant because I like how I sing normally and I don’t like to deviate from my usual delivery– it makes me feel safe. Makes me feel detached.
 
But we really worked on this one, and I felt I left my ego a bit.  Was able, thanks to Alex, to find what the song needed rather than what I wanted.

Every single from the album is going to be accompanied by a companion song that was recorded during the same sessions but didn’t end up on the final tracklist. “Brenda & Diane”‘s companion track is called “Hollywood Ending.” Check them both out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Brenda & Diane”
02 “Two Brothers”
03 “Rabbit”
04 “Rich”
05 “Moonlight”
06 “MOTY”
07 “The Weasel”
08 “Am I The Only One?”
09 “Sunrise”
10 “Dancer”
11 “God’s Plan”

The Fool is out 5/24 via Saddle Creek.