New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, the duo of Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath and Daughter of Swords' Alexandra Sauser-Monnig share new single "Wedding Dress," revealing a soft and subtle side of their forthcoming, debut album as The A's. Out July 15th on Psychic Hotline, Fruit "feels simultaneously from this moment and from another world…to say it's enchanting is an understatement" (Consequence of Sound). Featuring new interpretations of traditional folk music, sweet lullabies and rural standards that span genre and decades, plus the original "When I Die," the songs "strike a perfect balance between inquisitive and comforting. There's something here for almost anyone, and you'll be charmed before you know it" (NPR Music). Listen to The A's take on the traditional "Wedding Dress," below:
While many of Fruit's ten tracks find the two longtime friends and Mountain Man collaborators yodeling alongside a makeshift orchestra of hair, nylon shorts, shoes, ice chunk, gravel, frog samples and other strangely percussive, unexpectedly melodic objects, "Wedding Dress" pairs a single guitar with Meath and Sauser-Monnig's sublime harmonies. It's a story sung by generations of Appalachians, as well as the legendary Peggy Seeger and her family, The A's echo the song's quiet contemplation as their voices rise and fall, evoking the candle-lit, North Carolinian setting where they recorded the LP as they stared deep into each other's eyes.
Created in the summer of 2021 at Sylvan Esso's Chapel Hill studio, Betty's, Fruit follows more than 15 years that Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig have spent singing together. From the backseat of a Prius while on their first cross-country tour, to back porches and backstages, the duo have now entered their own world together, one that is "weird, whimsical and sincere all at once" (WNYC).
Listen to Fruit opener and lead single "He Needs Me," a spectral reimagining of the Harry Nilsson-Shelley Duvall classic, which came with The A's yodeling, a cappella arrangement of The DeZurik Sisters' "Why I'm Grieving," plus a mystical music video full of dancing flower-people and a long, joyous kiss: https://youtu.be/0y65W7tIlvg
Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig co-produced Fruit with Nick Sanborn, who will be part of The A's expanded live band for their first official performance at Newport Folk Festival on July 22nd. Also joining the group are drummer Joe Westerlund and Flock of Dimes' Jenn Wasner, who sings on Fruit original "When I Die." Additional contributions to the album include backing vocals from Alli Rogers, string arrangements from Gabriel Kahane on "He Needs Me," saxophone from Sam Gendel on "Copper Kettle" and guitar from Alan Good Parker on "Swing and Turn Jubilee." Across all of the tracks, stunning vocals and a sense of humor serve as the throughline, and Sauser-Monnig sums up their collective ethos on the project succinctly: "If it doesn't make you cackle or cry, it doesn't belong."
