Fauness — who landed on our Best New Bands list back in 2019 — has put out a new EP every year for the last four years, and now she’s finally ready to put out her debut album. Cora Gilroy-Ware, the art historian and musician behind the project, will release Fauness’ first LP, The Golden Ass, in October. Today, she’s sharing the sparkling pop song “Mystery” as the album’s lead single.

“For a while I’ve been thinking about how the concept of ‘Mystery’ is obsolete,” Fauness said in a statement. “Transparency and complete exposure seem to possess the beguiling, coveted allure that mystery once had.” She continued:

The song is an elegy to the idea of mystery, and for the video I wanted to create an embodiment of the concept, a masked character who makes her way into the sea and disappears. I thought that there’s no one better to narrate Mystery’s passing than the maenad, a type of nymph from Greek mythology. Holding her tambourine and sacred staff, a thyrsus, the maenad describes Mystery’s departure from this world.

Watch a video for the song below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Lonely”
02 “Mystery”
03 “Peaches”
04 “Hours”
05 “Siena”
06 “Grape & Grain”
07 “Laura”
08 “High”
09 “Cinnamon”
10 “Girl In The Moon”

The Golden Ass is out 10/28 via Cascine. Pre-order it here.