Idle Empress – “Habits” & “Envy”

Idle Empress – “Habits” & “Envy”

Early last year, the promising folk trio Idle Empress released their self-titled debut EP. Since then, they’ve relocated to Minneapolis from their previous home base of Eau Claire and recorded two more songs on their path to an eventual full-length. The two tracks, “Habits” and “Envy,” are out today. Both of them gently unspool in a satisfying glide and both of them deal with emotions that feel elemental, infatuation and jealousy, and how much they can hurt. “You found your way back into my blood/ Like a river in the rain, it floods/ And I know it’s gonna leave,” Lauren Anderson sings on “Habits,” resigned to her fate of falling back in with someone that she knows is bad news. The rest of the band imitates that rush of familiar comforting feeling all the same, because sometimes we can’t help but repeat old patterns. It’s a noticeable contrast to “Envy,” which is more prickly and loose as Idle Empress spread out and jam, letting themselves wallow in the conflicted waters of intent for a few minutes time. Listen to both songs below.

“Habits” / “Envy” is out now.

more from New Music