Maia Friedman, who you may know as a member of Dirty Projectors, is also an accomplished singer-songwriter. She's got a new solo album called Goodbye Long Winter Shadow coming out in May, and she's been unveiling singles from it since late last year. The latest, out today, follows December's solemn chamber-pop ballad "On Passing" and February's similarly ornate but loose and swooning "New Flowers." It's called "Russian Blue," and it's a tribute to the Russian blue cat that was Friedman's "soulmate" during her teens and early 20s.
As Friedman explains:
Imagine being 13 in 1999: there was a massive wave of movies and media that preached the "one true love," "will you find your soulmate" concept. I was consumed by romance, and was convinced I would never find love, because I already found my soulmate in a cat. It was completely naive, but what a vulnerable time, those early teenage years.
She adds:
Cats have, at times, shown me how to live; at once entirely independent with an "I don't give a fuck" demeanor, while at the same time being sensitive enough to paw on your door when you’re crying or lay in the crook of your body when you’re sick. They take time and space for themselves and soak in pools of sunlight, two of my favorite things in life.
"Russian Blue" has some of that orchestrated flair of the other Goodbye Long Winter Shadow singles, but this one's more of a folk-pop slow-drift, the kind of gentle songcraft you can luxuriate inside. Watch director Jen Steele's video for the song below, where you'll also find the prior singles.
Goodbye Long Winter Shadow is out 5/9 via Last Gang.
