Frail Body, the Illinois trio who landed on our Best New Bands list back in 2020 after the release of their debut A Brief Memoriam, announced their second LP last month with “Refrain.” Artificial Bouquet is due out at the end of March, and today the band is sharing a new single, the six-minute “Devotion,” which leader Lowell Shaffer says is “my mother’s undying christian faith and what it was like witnessing someone dying coming to terms that their religious beliefs weren’t going to save them from their fate.” Shaffer continued:

I was raised christian and a lot of those beliefs have influenced and informed my decision making and world view to this day. I feel like I’ve followed along on those paths but eventually I began to have some questions about what that kind of faith looks like. Questions like, what if g-d’s plan includes a lot of suffering? Does g-d or whatever entity created matter and energy even understand suffering? People who meet and overcome obstacles often hone their character into humans fit to help and support other humans, therefore is suffering good? What if it is insurmountable, then is it cruel? And what if those stories inspire future generations to do better in the eventual goal of self sustaining human life? Does that equal some sort of universal karmic payoff? And why did my mother who was such a devoted and steadfast servant, get shouldered with decades of physical and emotional pain?

Watch a video for the track below.

Artificial Bouquet is out 3/29 via Deathwish.