Premiere: Work Wife Shares New Single 'Strangers'

Premiere: Work Wife Shares New Single 'Strangers'

Announces new EP Waste management Out April 12th via Born Losers Records

January 24, 2024

By Caleb Campbell

In 2022, Brooklyn-based indie singer/songwriter Meredith Lampe shared the Withdrawal period EP, her debut EP, leading dreamy indie rock outfit Work Wife. In the years since, Lampe and her bandmates Cody Edgerly and Kenny Monroe have been crafting their next sophomore EP. Waste management, is due out on April 12 via Born Losers Records. As the band describes, the EP finds them taking their sprawling soundscapes in reflective new directions, exploring what it's like to watch the world go by when you feel like you're stuck in slow motion.

Lampe says, “Living in New York, watching the world change rapidly and feeling like it should too, drifting in and out of friendships and relationships and places and moments. We wanted to explore the tension of opposites: feeling overwhelmed by busy work but having nothing to do, feeling lonely when surrounded by people, how time speeds up and slows down in times of confusion and joy, respectively. There are no guidelines for this stuff and most of the time it feels like we're shooting in the dark. This EP we work out how to navigate life with only intuition, reading between the lines and looking out as the city goes through a squint.”

To accompany the announcement, the band also shared the EP's lead single, “Strangers,” which premieres with Under the Radar.

“Strangers” hits many of the same notes as the band's previous tracks, taking on a tone that is simultaneously languid, brooding and cinematic. Swinging rhythms and guitar layers build as the track unfolds into a heartfelt song, with the band's vocals weaving together in swirls of warm vocal tones and rich guitar textures. By its end, the track reaches a triumphant high, combining Lambe's despondent meditations with rich, glowing melodies.

Lambe explains, “Strangers is about the loft that Kenny and I live in, the strangeness that exists there and the city that surrounds it. When I first moved to New York, I would come home exhausted every day from always feeling the way and the constant noise. Eventually, all this chaos fades into the background, but it still acts as the soundtrack to our lives. It gets into our phone calls and into our subconscious and settles like a layer on our skin.”

Check out the song and visual below. The Waste management The EP is due out on April 12 via Born Losers Records.