On February 23, Linwood Regensburg will finally release the set of recordings he was recording with his Those Darlins’ bandmate Jessi Zazu when she tragically passed away in 2017 after battling cancer. Under the moniker Mama Zu, the LP titled Quilt Floor traverses all types of terrain unexplored by the duo’s prior country-tinged garage rock project—from the ’90s shoegaze and riot grrrl movements to the psychedelic rock of three decades prior. Yet on the latest single, “Safe Place to Stay,” the expansive track opens with the cool nocturnal electronica of a mid-’10s indie-pop group like Chromatics before subtly evolving into a Fleetwood Mac–like soft-rock jam.
“Part of me feels like releasing this as an album teaser/single is a huge mistake,” Regensburg modestly shares. “It’s pretty slow-moving, a bit cold and empty, initially. Might even borderline cross into adult contemporary territory at times? I doubt anyone would play this on the radio…though maybe Delilah would dig it? I could be wrong. Is this pitch selling you yet?”
Yet within this slow-moving recording there are plenty of details that make it more interesting with every listen—much of it due to collaborations from vocalists Larissa Maestro and Kyshona Armstrong and percussionist Jane Boxall, who actually plays propane tank on the track. (“Maybe the first track to feature both 12-string electric guitar and propane tank?,” notes Regensburg. “Both notoriously unable to truly be in tune, but are glorious nonetheless.”)
Regensburg, on less self-deprecating note, later reflects on his collaboration with Zazu when these songs initially came together: “As I sit here rambling, I can’t help but think of the idea that Gordie from Stephen King’s The Body keeps coming back to: ‘The most important things are the hardest to say, because words only diminish them’—something close to that at least. And maybe that’s why I can’t just sit here and simply spit out two sentences to act as plug and play talking points for a song that means so much to me in so many different ways.”
Check out the song below, and pre-order Quilt Floor here.
