Stef Chura has announced her sophomore album, Midnight, the follow-up to 2017’s Messes. Last year, the Detroit musician put out two new tracks on a 7″, “Degrees” and “Sour Honey,” both of which were produced by Will Toledo, and the Car Seat Headrest frontman continues those duties on Midnight, producing the entire album.

Lead single “Method Man” is hooky and blasting, a gnarly pulse of guitars delivered with swagger. “He is a method man/ Sipping on a taurine can/ Rippin’ up a box of books he says I’ll never understand,” Chura repeats, switching up rhythms halfway through, expressing frustration with being thought of as less-than.

Listen below.

Here’s what Chura had to say about the track:

A long time ago I was pondering the literal words “Method Man” while listening to Wu-Tang. There was a person in my life that I had a confusing array of emotions for, sometimes I was in love with him, I admired and looked up to him, I thought of him as superior to me. He was older than me and I was a teenager. At that age I experienced a titanic amount of anxiety that usually expressed itself as silence.

This song was born out of a total frustration regarding a man who seemed “methodical” to me. He was literate. He waxed poetic. Almost someone…how do I say this…that you wanted to be condescending to you? As long as they were talking to you. He drank a lot of energy drinks and had this overall outlook that no one understood him. That he was in on some kind of cosmic secret that I couldn’t get. He smoked so many cigs it stained his fingers yellow.

He was always talking, and I was so enamored with this person. I was always nervous to reply. He would go on and on for hours. He sometimes would look at me and be like “oh maybe you won’t get this…. maybe you don’t get this.” I was too terrified to say much.

TRACKLIST:
01 “All I Do Is Lie”
02 “Scream”
03 “Degress”
04 “Method Man”
05 “Trumbull”
06 “Jumpin’ Jack”
07 “Sincerely Yours”
08 “3D Girl”
09 “Sweet Sweet Midnight”
10 “Love Song”
11 “They’ll Never”
12 “Eyes Without A Face”

TOUR DATES:
03/12 Austin, TX @ Beerland Tiger Bomb Promo (SXSW)
03/13 Austin, TX @ @ Barracuda GCT Showcase (SXSW)
03/14 Austin, TX @ Container Bar Dr. Martens (SXSW)
03/14 Austin, TX @ Hole in the Wall The Grey Estates (SXSW)
03/15 Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlies Ad Hoc Free For All (SXSW)
03/16 Hot Springs, AR @ Valley of the Vapors
03/17 Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
04/23 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
07/05 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
07/06 Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
07/07 Toronto, ON @ The Drake
07/08 Montreal, QC @ Casa del Popolo
07/09 Boston, MA @ Great Scott
07/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
07/13 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
07/15 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
07/16 Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
07/17 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
07/19 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
07/20 Houston, TX @ The Satellite
07/21 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
07/22 Dallas, TX @ Regal Room
07/25 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
07/26 San Diego, CA @ Sodabar
07/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theatre
07/28 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
07/30 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
07/31 Seattle, WA @ Barboza
08/01 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
08/02 Spokane, WA @ Lucky You Lounge
08/03 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
08/05 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
08/06 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
08/07 Omaha, NE @ Reverb
08/09 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
08/10 Milwaukee, WI @ Backroom at Colectivo

Midnight is out 6/7 via Saddle Creek. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Chloe Sells