In our Track by Track feature, artists open up about the stories and messages behind each song on their latest release. Today, The Regrettes bring us some Further Joy.
Sometimes when you’re overcome with anxiety, the only thing to do is dance it out. That’s essentially what The Regrettes have done on their latest album, Further Joy.
Out today via Warner, Further Joy finds the band channeling the tumultuous times we’ve all experienced these last few years as well as their personal flaws into their “poppiest and danciest” album ever. In fact, the album’s very title encapsulates the experience of locking yourself into a cycle of constantly trying to better yourself while facing the daunting realities of the world — and imitation realities of social media.
“That phrase, ‘further joy,’ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, that’s what makes you unhappy,” lead singer and songwriter Lydia Night said in a press statement.. “I was stuck in a loop of wanting to be better, wanting to be good, and therefore I couldn’t be here. I couldn’t be present.”
With Further Joy, Night, guitarist Genessa Gariano, bassist Brooke Dickson, and drummer Drew Thomsen aim to break that cycle by confronting it honestly — and then dancing on its grave. Take a listen to the album below, followed by the band’s in depth Track by Track breakdown of the whole thing.
In support of the LP, The Regrettes are hitting the road this spring. With their itinerary launching next week at Coachella, you can find tickets to all their upcoming concerts here.
“Anxieties (Out of Time)”:
This was one I wrote at the beginning of the pandemic, and it encapsulates that impending doom, when it felt like everything in front of me was terrifying, it’s all coming at me, that’s all I could focus on. This was before I was even diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. I think a lot of people experienced similar feelings at the beginning of the world shutting down, nothing was off the table at that point in terms of what could happen in the world. The chorus is a reflection of that, we wanted it to sound like an anxious, panic attack pace like you’re running out of time and it feels like that to me. — Lydia Night
“Monday”:
Once you accept what’s going on with your mental health, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better, at least it did for me. Once I accepted I had anxiety and depression that was extremely scary because then it became real. I was off the rails, losing my mind, I felt so lonely and so lost and so isolated. I had just started to understand my own feelings and get validation for them. “Monday” comes from validation of those feelings, but again, there’s that counter, there’s that hopeful voice in there being like “You’re still alive. It’s fine. It’s OK. — L.N.
