Back in 2019, after nearly a decade of fronting Remember Sports, Carmen Perry returned to that band’s roots with a reissue of their 2014 album Sunchokes that featured a bonus disc of demos attributed to Addie Pray, Perry’s pre-Sports solo moniker. That project had previously gone dormant in 2015 after the release of her Screentime LP, but in a sense was revived when Perry recently released her debut single as a solo artist under her given name. And there’s more to come: On June 6, her debut album Eyes Like a Mirror will land via the largely indie-folk-oriented Mtn. Laurel Recording Co.
It comes as no surprise, then, that Perry’s new solo recordings are both stripped of the energetic power-pop stylings her band has abetted her on since 2013 and more folkified than prior bedroom-pop experiments. The record’s latest single “Not Today” even has a bit of a Western aesthetic courtesy of a loping bass-and-brushed-drums soundbed accompanied by campfire acoustic guitar and Perry’s C&W-friendly sorrows reflected in her lyrics. “‘Not Today’ is about the space between knowing you have a problem and knowing what to do about it,” she explains. “I wrote it when I was feeling frustrated with myself about not being the kind of person I wanted to be, but also not having the energy to make a change. It’s the sound of pulling the covers over your head and spending a few more hours in bed.”
To further bring out that Western flavor, the track’s Heeyoon Won–directed video sees Perry in something of an existential standoff with herself, both the “good” and the “bad” from Sergio Leone’s iconic film, if you will. Check that out below, and pre-order Eyes Like a Mirror here.
