After opening 2026 by covering Hotline TNT, Field Medic, and Norah Jones on their standards EP, Brooklyn-based glitch-gaze ensemble smush are winding down the year with news of the proper follow-up to their 2024 debut full-length. i’ll always wish.. is slated to drop January 22, with lead single “milkweed butterfly” seeing the group continue to retool their modern shoegaze sound with percussive elements of drum ’n’ bass and Emily Borrowman’s clean vocals. The track was produced by Witches Exist’s Jackson Baker and slowly came together atop a demo created with MIDI percussion.
Regarding the lyrical direction the song took, guitarist Atley King shares the source of Borrowman’s emotive vocals: “Written from the perspective of a child experiencing anxiety and depression with no way to understand or contextualize those feelings, creating ‘milkweed butterfly’ was a way for Emily to make sense of the instability of immigrating to the United States.” From there, the song’s demo was retooled until each piece fit neatly into place. “After nearly a whole day in the studio spent meticulously programming drum breaks and sound effects, it finally arrived in its final form. Much like the butterflies mentioned in the song’s lyrics, its own transformation was complete."
The song’s music video was directed by Henry Nelson and features the band jamming the tune dressed in full fencing gear—check that out below, or stream the track here.
