Kevin Bronson on April 24th, 2022

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Singles roundup: Catching up with recent releases from Hazel English, Dreamers, Mt. Joy, Lou Roy and Joy Weather …

HAZEL ENGLISH, “Summer Nights”

Australia-born Hazel English has followed up her 2021 single, “Nine Stories,” with the announcement of a new EP, “Summer Nights,” and the seasonally perfect title track. It’s “a song about the intoxicating feeling of developing a crush on someone. I thought it would be interesting to explore the buildup of tension sonically because to me, the anticipation is the best part.” Her sunny-side approach, which also shone on parts of her 2020 debut album, “Wake Up!,” comes via a collaboration with Jackson Phillips of Day Wave. Right down to director Colin Jones’ video, it’s like the soundtrack to a California postcard.

DREAMERS, “Black Confetti”

Not that L.A. trio Dreamers are obsessed with mortality, but their new pop-punk missive “Black Confetti” is about celebrating one’s own demise. The follow-up to February’s collaboration with Twin XL on the single “Upgrade,” “Black Confetti” “is about throwing a party to celebrate your own death,” main man Nick Wold says. “I always figured the fact that we will one day die is a scary concept, but we could either brush it under the rug and try not to think about it, or we could face it head-on and really think about it, so we can start getting used to it. This is why I read a ton of existential literature when I was younger. I figured I might as well mourn myself now and then get over it, and that always felt right. Realizing that we will die makes us appreciate life. Maybe that’s why some of us goth out and dress all in black. We are dressed for our own funerals and remembering that every moment is precious.”

MT. JOY, “Orange Blood”

After releasing “Lemon Tree” in March, Mt. Joy continue to evolve from pretty-but-predictable folk to something more expansive and cinematic. “Orange Blood” is the title track of the band’s first album for Island Records, out June 17. The album was conceived by principals Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper in Joshua Tree before Mt. Joy finished it in their native Philadelphia with producer Caleb Nelson. “I was definitely drawn to the color orange,” Quinn says of the songwriting process. “When we were in the desert, everything revolved around the sun. I started playing with the idea that the light we see is this sort of orange blood that runs through all of us and gives life to everything it touches.” See the band Aug. 5 at the Palladium.

LOU ROY, “U.D.I.D”

Singer-songwriter Caitlin Notey — who’s about to bury her thorny past (record label stuff, y’know?) as Huxlee for good — has released the final single leading up to this coming week’s release of her Sarah Tudzin-produced album as Lou Roy, “Pure Chaos.” She’s proven adept at many genres: Witness the R&B flavor of “Valkyrie,” the indie-rock edge of “Uppercut” and the experimental electronics of “Down Since ’07.” Now comes the chilling, evocative dream-pop track “U.D.I.D” (you don’t, I don’t). “I had just had a phone call with a person I love that left me heartbroken, and I confessed to myself and my dog that maybe that phone call was the final straw …” the songwriter says. “So I got high and put on ‘Hellraiser’ and decided to try on what it would be like to really just give up on them. It’s the only point on the record where I actually can’t find the humor or optimism present in other songs.” See Lou Roy celebrate her album release May 5 at the Airliner.

JOY WEATHER, “Asleep at the Wheel”

Indie trio Joy Weather is back with their third original single since their 2020 debut album. The follow-up to “A Little While” and “For the Weekend,” it doesn’t quite have the bite of the latter — although the songs belong together. “‘Asleep at the Wheel’ is somewhat of a companion piece to ‘For the Weekend,’” frontman Brian Ishiba says. “‘For the Weekend,’ to me, is about accepting and coping with the work grind. ‘Asleep at the Wheel’ is about finding your stride in that grind, so much so that you’ve become numb to it. It’s about looking up to notice that your life is passing you by while you do the same things over and over. It’s me feeling the pressure/expectation to be OK with that while simultaneously feeling the quiet urge to make a change.”