North Carolina singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman has announced his next album, Manning Fireworks (out Sept. 6 via Anti-), with a new song, “She’s Leaving You.”
The track finds Lenderman flexing his characteristically clever and candid songwriting skills, delivering a sardonic assessment of a cheating husband’s grim midlife crisis that still maintains some poignancy: “Go rent a Ferrari/And sing the blues,” he sings at one point. “Believe that Clapton was the second coming.” Lenderman plays pretty much every instrument on the track, while his Wednesday bandmate, Karly Hartzman, sings backup, and producer Alex Farrar plays piano.
“She’s Leaving You” also arrives with a music video directed by Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum. Lenderman and his band, the Wind, perform the track at a talent show, but their lackluster performance does little to win over the crowd, who are (understandably) more enthralled by the juggler, magician, cheerleaders, speed eater, interpretive dancer, and the guy who jumps over mop buckets and slippery-when-wet signs.
Manning Fireworks marks Lenderman’s fourth studio album and first for Anti-. It follows his 2022 breakthrough Boat Songs, as well as his 2023 live album And the Wind (Live and Loose!). He recorded Manning Fireworks with Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina in between his own tour dates and gigs with Wednesday. The album will also contain the single he released last year, “Rudolph.”
On top of his own solo work and playing in Wednesday, Lenderman also played guitar and sang backup on Waxahatchee’s latest album, Tiger’s Blood.
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Lenderman has a handful of U.S. shows on the horizon, including sets at the Logan Square Arts Festival in Chicago on June 28 and the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, in September. In November, he’ll kick off a European and U.K. tour in support of Manning Fireworks.
Manning Fireworks Tracklist
1. “Manning Fireworks”
2. “Joker Lips”
3. “Rudolph”
4. “Wristwatch”
5. “She’s Leaving You”
6. “Rip Torn”
7. “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In”
8. “On My Knees”
9. “Bark At The Moon”
