Kevin Bronson on January 28th, 2015

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Mini Mansions’ latest single “Any Emotions” articulates a typical guy lament—”I can’t understand / any emotions”—but actor Colin Hanks displays the full range in director Mike Harris’ one-take video for the song. The single features background vocals from the legendary Brian Wilson, for whom Mini Mansions’ bassist Zach Dawes did session work and possesses a soulful ’60s feel, with a loping bass line underneath those shiny falsettos. Along with the previously released “Death Is A Girl,” it stokes anticipation for Mini Mansions’ sophomore release “The Great Pretenders,” due March 24 on T Bone Burnett’s Electromagnetic Recordings (via Capitol Records). Joining the trio—Dawes, Michael Shuman and Tyler Parkford—on the album are guests including Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys. “The Great Pretenders” figures to be anything but.

||| Live: Mini Mansions play a sold-out show tonight at the Troubadour and also perform Saturday at the Observatory.

||| Previously: “Death Is a Girl”

Photo by Neil Krug