We've been Team Shura around these parts for quite some time, so we were stoked when the UK alt-pop singer returned last month with "Recognise," the lead single from her first album in six years. The next single from I Got Too Sad For My Friends is perhaps even more exciting because it pairs Shura with another Stereogum favorite, Cassandra Jenkins. "Richardson" ambles along with a melancholy warmth, zeroing in on the exact vibe I want from these two. Both the arrangement and the vocal performances are subtly spectacular.
A word from Shura:
I fell in love with Cassandra's record at a low point in my life. It felt like an armchair I could crawl into. It accompanied me on long walks I took around my apartment in Greenpoint. I always knew I wanted to work with Cassandra on something. After a few conversations it became obvious to the both of us that it had to be this song. That Cassandra would accompany me here. A song about walking, thinking, and trying to find comfort somewhere, as Cassandra’s voice accompanied me on those walks then.
Jenkins also shared a statement:
I was drawn to Richardson because it captures a mood that's hard to place, in part because it's so much about place, and a kind of limbo we bring with us wherever we go. I love that this collaboration developed into a meta conversation between me and Shu about the ways we communicate with our loved ones when we are apart, whether by circumstance, time, or geography. It makes me think we were cosmic pen pals long before we ever met.
Well put, ladies! Hear "Richardson" below.
I Got Too Sad For My Friends is out 5/30 via Play It Again Sam.
