Almost a decade ago, we named Cross Record a Band To Watch. Emily Cross has stayed busy with Loma lately, but she last released a Cross Record album with 2019's self-titled LP, and today she's announcing its follow-up, Crush Me. The first single, "Charred Grass," is a sprawling, assuring preview.
"Charred Grass," is about “moments that stick with me, and help me feel real — essentially, times in which time itself ceases to exist,” Cross explains. “I drive past a lot of fields, and one morning I saw a big fire. The next day there was a baby calf laying on the bit of charred grass close to its mom, who was making eye contact with me as I drove by. Sometimes the car scares the cows but this one seemed to convey only peace and calm.”
The writing of Crush Me began after a tour with Loma. She moved from Austin to the UK; she was five years into her career as a death doula; she was receiving interest from an indie label; she was collaborating with exciting musicians. As the process continued, the label ghosted her and collaborators disappeared, but Crush Me materialized nonetheless.
This tumult can be heard on "Charred Grass," a spectral ballad with Ben Babbitt on mallet dobro, Marcin Sulewski on drums, Theo Karon on tape loops, sound design, prepared piano, and synth bass, and Devra Hoff on electric bass, arco upright bass, and arrangement. Even with all of these elements, the tune magically has a sense of intimacy and emptiness, heightened by the haunting music video of Emily Cross walking through the woods. Watch below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "I Can Lie"
02 "Rolling Backwards"
03 "Charred Grass"
04 "Right Thing By Me"
05 "Dorset Area Of Natural Beauty"
06 "Cutting A Cake"
07 "Led Through Life"
08 "God Fax"
09 "Pearl Through The Funnel"
10 "Designed In Hell"
11 "Crush Me"
12 "Twisted Up Fence"
Crush Me is out 3/21 via Ba Da Bing.
