Track by Track is a recurring article series where artists guide readers through each song from their latest release. Today, Sheer Mag takes us to her new album, Playing favorites. The band's Tina Halladay and Matt Palmer go even deeper into the album in our UNCUT Consequence podcast, which features the full, unedited interview for your listening pleasure below or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sheer Mag have returned with their first album in five years. Playing favorites. As the poignant title track suggests, Playing favorites It looks like a greatest hits collection from the Philadelphia band. As well as being their first release since signing to Third Man Records last year, it's a return to their heavily inspired, classic rock sound as they forge impressive new musical terrain.
The band, comprised of vocalist Tina Halladay and multi-instrumentalists Matt Palmer, Kyle Seely and Hart Seely, has had Playing favorites In the works for a while now, writing and recording the album over a three-year period. “My joke right now is when people ask me if I'm excited about the album coming out, I tell them I've already heard it, so I'm not that excited,” Halladay jokes during a video call with the songwriter and beat. guitarist Matt Palmer.
Despite the album's charming and carefully produced feel, Playing favorites It marks a slight departure for Sheer Mag from their last album, a distant call. Certain tracks, such as the second-half cuts “Tea on the Kettle,” “When You Get Back,” and the emotional “Golden Hour,” bring a deeply sincere sense of devotion. Meanwhile, energetic tracks like “I Gotta Go” and “Eat It and Beat It” are examples of how the band makes great rock 'n' roll without taking themselves too seriously.
Palmer and Halladay talk about the album's variety and name Steely Dan, The Eagles and American folk as some of the album's influences. As proof of that, they added plenty of nice backing vocals this time around, but throughout every song is Halladay's inimitable voice, evoking power and tenderness in some of his most impressive performances to date.
Listen to Sheer Mag Playing favorites below, and read Matt Palmer and Tina Halladay's track-by-track breakdown of the album, including a story about playing Playstation 5 while Mdou Moctar recorded a guest guitar solo for “Mechanical Garden.”
Get tickets to Sheer Mag's North American tour in 2024 here.
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