Meg Remy is back with news of the next U.S. Girls album. Scratch It, the follow-up to 2023’s Bless This Mess, will be released on June 20 via 4AD. The lead single, ‘Bookends’, a 12-minute epic Remy co-wrote with Edwin de Goeji, is a heavy one. It pays tribute to late friend and former Power Trip frontman Riley Gale, filtered through Remy’s reading of John Carey’s Eyewitness to History, a historical collection of over three hundred eyewitness accounts spanning twenty-four centuries that made Remy ponder the thought: “There is not a hierarchy to suffering, and death is the great equaliser.” Though it sounds heady, it’s hard not to be moved by the song. Check it out below.
‘Bookends’ comes paired with a music video directed by Caity Arthur, who explained: “The video is ultimately about death and absolution — how death is one of the only certain things in life; the ‘great equalizer,’ nolens volens. However, it also subverts the traditional narrative of death as a despairing void, rather, portraying it as a euphoric transitory experience or new beginning through a hallucinatory ensemble cast, a 1960s pop-star performance, and sleight of hand magic. As the video progresses, the TV channels alternate through these scenes as Meg’s lyrics evoke death in its various forms.”
Remy and her band — Dillon Watson on guitar, Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, Loretta Lynn) on bass, Domo Donoho on drums, Jo Schornikow and Tina Norwood on keys, and harmonica legend Charlie McCoy (Elvis, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison) — tracked the new album live off the floor with minimal overdubs. It folds together country, gospel, garage rock, soul, disco, and folk balladry, according to a press release.
Scratch It Cover Artwork:
Scratch It Tracklist:
1. Like James Said
2. Dear Patti
3. Firefly on the 4th of July
4. The Clearing
5. Walking Song
6. Bookends
7. Emptying the Jimador
8. Pay Streak
9. No Fruit
