BORDERLANDS: ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI “BABY”

The lo-fi legends announce new album and release soulful (cover) track “Baby.”

Early this morning, noise pop outfit Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti revealed plans to follow up their 2010 breakthrough record and critical darling, Before Today. The new LP, titled Mature Themes, is due out August 21st in the US via indie label 4AD.

The band also unveiled a new album cut, a groovy cover of Donnie and Joe Emerson’s 1979 song “Baby.” Pink, no stranger to covering vintage rock and roll tunes, enlists Californian modern funk musician Dâm-Funk to guest on the track, a rather faithful and straightforward interpretation of the original.

Pink’s voice, however, surprisingly stands at the front-and-center of the mix, injecting a raspy new life into the bedside jam.

Pink recently told Spin that the new album wouldn’t find him making “too many stylistic changes,” but the soundscape on “Baby” feels uncharacteristically lush for the lo-fi rockers. The prominent piano paired with Pink’s vocal confidence promise a sound that expands on the warmly received Before Today. This slow-burning crooner will surely creep onto summer sex playlists across the indiesphere sooner rather than later.

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