Mai Blum - Nobody Waits b/w San Cristobal

Format: 7"
Catalogue No.: LBJ317 
Barcode: 0648401031775
Release Date: 20th November 2020
Genre: Indie

TRACKLISTING:
1. Nobody Waits
2. San Cristóbal (Full Band Version)

Once dubbed “punk’s greatest hidden treasure” by Stereogum, Mal Blum writes cleverly craftedsongs that are as self-eacing as they are viscerally relatable. Following on from 2019’sPity BoyLP, a brand new 7”, to be released via Saddle Creek’sDocument Series*, is the last thing theyrecorded with their band before hunkering down to wait out the pandemic.Recorded in drummer Ricardo Lagomasino’s basement in Maine, months before coronavirus wasa word in our collective periphery, these two new songs are embellished by the band’s timethere. In between takes, Barrett padded the hardwood in his slippers. Audrey xed herself lunchin the kitchen. Ricardo’s wife, Meg, was pregnant at the time but she said she didn’t mind thenoise that drifted up to the living room. The house felt brimming with possibility.

“Since then, myassociations of home have changed,” Mal says. “In recent months, in quarantine, I only write andrecord songs by myself. Listening back, this seven-inch feels like a relic. An old photograph of aweekend spent idly with my bandmates years ago, though it was only a few months. Spendingthe weekend together felt like a reprieve. Home is a respite. It doesn’t have to be yours.”Lead track “Nobody Waits” is a song about patience, rejection, loneliness, love, depression, andacceptance. The possibility that we may never meet somebody who is willing to embrace everypart of us. The song posits that being loved is an impossible, Sisyphean task, akin to leavingsomething burning in the oven in a house where there is no entryway.“San Cristobal” is a song that was written almost a decade ago. It’s about escapism, traveling, andgoing long distances to try to leave yourself behind, only to nd another impossible task. Thisnew version was re-recorded with a band arrangement.

“My voice had just begun changing fromtestosterone,” Mal says of the new version. “I had to relearn how to sing it. By the time this comesout, more will have changed, be changing, still.”* Taking inspiration from the original concept behind the founding of Saddle Creek, as an attempt to highlight our home citythrough music and art, we began the Document Series in 2017. Each release featured

in the Document Series is comprised ofan exclusive record featuring unreleased music from artists outside of the label's roster, along with a specially curated zinecreated by the artist

OTHER ACTIVITY: https://saddle-creek.com/

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