Surf Curse’s Nick Rattigan crammed a ton of ideas into his recent double album Love + Pop—which was released over the course of the past two years under his long-running Current Joys moniker—but none of those ideas quite verged on the heavy emotions or country flavoring of his imminent follow-up, East My Love. Written well before Love + Pop came together, the songwriter tabled these songs while instigating the former record (which featured collaborations with Lil Yachty and Feardorian, as well as a Lil Peep cover and an homage to Deftones) that was obviously comprised of much more comfortable material to work with.
Yet we’re all the luckier for East My Love seeing the light of day, as its lead single “California Rain” took the form of a sprawling country-rock ballad emboldened by barroom piano and a string section. In a similar fashion, its follow-up “They Shoot Horses” somberly reflects on doomed love with C&W shadings before swelling into full-band dramatics. “In 2020, when California was on fire, I drove across the country in my car for two weeks listening to The Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” Rattigan reveals of his primary influence (well, maybe aside from Sydney Pollack). “I pulled over one night in Kansas, sat by a fire, and wrote this song.”
Check out the new track below, and pre-order East My Love here.
