1. Heartbreak

2. Swarm

3. Never Look Back

4. Suspended

5. Limelight

6. Get Through

7. Better Dreaming

8. How Big Is the Rainbow

9. See You There

10. Perpetual Motion

11. Sanctuary

 

May 16

Edited March 4, 20251 yr by Uncatena

 

the sixth studio album, and first in like 4 years, will be released on May 16th

 

first single is out and it's actually a huge bop! 

 

AP by me, love 

56 minutes ago, Uncatena said:

AP by me, love 

o oops my dumbass

 

wow Heartbreak is really gorgeous 

 

yknow random thought: it makes me a bit sad how over the years they've sorta faded away in terms of popularity… like I understand why people have critiqued them over the years and yeah a lot of it is very fair, but still, they've continued to make great music every time they've released! like both these singles are great and honestly most of sketchy. was really great too… these two singles could've fit well on Nikki Nack and yet they still feel fresh to me, idk I wish they could've remained critical indie darlings the way, say, Vampire Weekend have, but alas…

11 minutes ago, JoeAg said:

wow Heartbreak is really gorgeous 

 

yknow random thought: it makes me a bit sad how over the years they've sorta faded away in terms of popularity… like I understand why people have critiqued them over the years and yeah a lot of it is very fair, but still, they've continued to make great music every time they've released! like both these singles are great and honestly most of sketchy. was really great too… these two singles could've fit well on Nikki Nack and yet they still feel fresh to me, idk I wish they could've remained critical indie darlings the way, say, Vampire Weekend have, but alas…

Imo the cultural appropriation claims were always kinda annoying - like in no way did Garbus try to act like she invented afropop and was very open about those influences in the music.

 

Spoiler

Also doing the six month antiracist workshop highkey resulted in their worst record 

 

@sam.teas is anything else scheduled to come out before the album release.

6 hours ago, LoudCitySong said:

Imo the cultural appropriation claims were always kinda annoying - like in no way did Garbus try to act like she invented afropop and was very open about those influences in the music.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Also doing the six month antiracist workshop highkey resulted in their worst record 

 

huge agree! she was always respectful and cognizant of the roots of afrobeat and afropop!!

 

and if they did that workshop before ICFYCiMPL then I agree with you 

12 hours ago, JoeAg said:

wow Heartbreak is really gorgeous 

 

yknow random thought: it makes me a bit sad how over the years they've sorta faded away in terms of popularity… like I understand why people have critiqued them over the years and yeah a lot of it is very fair, but still, they've continued to make great music every time they've released! like both these singles are great and honestly most of sketchy. was really great too… these two singles could've fit well on Nikki Nack and yet they still feel fresh to me, idk I wish they could've remained critical indie darlings the way, say, Vampire Weekend have, but alas…

for me, the problem is that some of the energy from their first three albums is missing in these recent releases. they are all pleasant and well produced and written, and Merrill seems to take care of her voice, but something about the ruggedness and louder vibe that I fell in love with them is has faded away...

1 minute ago, Uncatena said:

for me, the problem is that some of the energy from their first three albums is missing in these recent releases. they are all pleasant and well produced and written, and Merrill seems to take care of her voice, but something about the ruggedness and louder vibe that I fell in love with them is has faded away...

idk I definitely agree with you for ICFYCiMPL and sketchy. but for this era it feels promising so far! like the little outros with her child speaking and the harmonies that feel so effortless and nostalgic… it feels like a back to basics sort of vibe to me 

4 minutes ago, JoeAg said:

idk I definitely agree with you for ICFYCiMPL and sketchy. but for this era it feels promising so far! like the little outros with her child speaking and the harmonies that feel so effortless and nostalgic… it feels like a back to basics sort of vibe to me 

yeah I do like the vibe so far, im definitely looking forward to it.

12 hours ago, JoeAg said:

idk I definitely agree with you for ICFYCiMPL and sketchy. but for this era it feels promising so far! like the little outros with her child speaking and the harmonies that feel so effortless and nostalgic… it feels like a back to basics sort of vibe to me 

In the live performances it looks like they're moving back to a two-piece operation with Garbus on looping pedal/percussion (something they haven't really done since Nikki Nack).

 

I suspect "Heartbreak" might be a better indicator of the record's overall vibe because it's the opening track and also in the press release for "Limelight" I think Garbus mentioned it wasn't their initial pick for lead single. I loved all the pre-release singles for Sketchy so very curious to see what's in store for the rest of this album. 

giving this a first listen cause why not 

title track one of their best songs ever okay 

yep, dare I say it? their best since Nikki Nack