Earlier this year, the Brooklyn art-rockers Foyer Red released their full-length debut Yarn The Hours Away. Today, the band is getting ready for a quick run of dates with kindred spirits Speedy Ortiz, and they’ve shared a couple more tracks. “Tallest Dogwood” comes from the Yarn The Hours Away sessions, and it starts out as a breezy indie rock jam before taking some unpredictable turns. The more fractured “Barkin’ Up A Knot” is a reworked version of one of the band’s older songs.

On the subject of “Tallest Dogwood,” bandleader Elana Riordan says:

Our album art actually has a drawing of “milk on a spoon,” from a lyric in the song. The lyrics are an ode to my childhood home and a lot of the memories that stick out from growing up there, like my brother swallowing a penny, my dad playing guitar on the porch during thunderstorms, etc. My dad planted a dogwood tree there for each of his children, and mine grew the tallest.

Here’s what Riordan says about “Talkin’ Up A Knot”:

This song is a special one from the Foyer Red vault. We self-recorded it at home. Mitch plays banjo in the song and drums with brushes, a very different sound for us. The lyrics are loosely based on Greek mythology; it’s Persephone’s monologue to Hades, who has kept her in the Underworld. I originally wrote the lyrics as a B-side to “Pickles,” which is about pressure, combustion, dryness, rust. This song juxtaposes that with cool water, cerulean, growth, and starlight.

Below, listen to both songs and check out Foyer Red’s upcoming dates.

TOUR DATES:
12/14 – Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power *
12/15 – Providence, RI @ Union Station Brewery *
12/16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
12/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ MilkBoy *

* with Speedy Ortiz

“Tallest Dogwood” b/w “Barkin’ Up A Knot” is out now on Carpark.