Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan Announces Debut Solo Album, “Likewise”

The synthy first single “Rare Thing” establishes the Saddle Creek release as an experimental affair.
Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan Announces Debut Solo Album, “Likewise”

The synthy first single “Rare Thing” establishes the Saddle Creek release as an experimental affair.

Words: Mike LeSuer

photo by Julia Khorosilov

October 22, 2019

Most people didn’t know Hop Along back when they were the solo project of vocalist/guitarist Frances Quinlan, releasing a bizarro anti-folk debut under the moniker Hop Along, Queen Ansleis over a decade ago. Regardless, today Quinlan is writing a revisionist history of her solo career with the news of her first LP under her own name. 

Likewise will be the Philly-based songwriter’s first release post-full-band, repurposing her unmistakable vocals over electronic beats and flourishes, as heard on lead single “Rare Thing.” With “synthesizers, digital beats, harps, strings, and a wide variety of keyboards” promised throughout the record, the album—produced by bandmate Joe Reinhart—promises plenty of left turns from the indie-pop bandleader.

“Working with Joe on this made me able to better see that the guitar is just one vehicle…there are so many others to explore,” she notes in a press release. It’ll be interesting to see how this shift from guitars influences the album closer, which is a cover of Built to Spill’s “Carry the Zero.”

Likewise is out January 31 via Saddle Creek, and you can pre-order it here. Sample “Rare Thing” below, and read on for a handful of 2020 headlining tour dates.

Tour Dates:

01/19/20 – Chicago, IL @ Tomorrow Never Knows Festival at Sleeping Village
03/01/20 – San Francisco, CA @ Noise Pop at Swedish American Music Hall
03/03/20 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
03/05/20 – Seattle, WA @ Columbia City Theater
03/12/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Pico Union Project
03/14/20 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah