Teen Suicide is back. Enigmatic songwriter Sam Ray has returned with his first new music from the project in five years, and it’s well worth the wait. Out now via Run For Cover Records, the band’s new single “coyote (2015-2021)” is a beautifully sprawling piece that’s been in the making for nearly six years.
Clocking in at over six minutes, “coyote (2015-2021)” is an expansive collage of delicate atmosphere and dub-influenced production. The song draws listeners in with a wandering instrumental arrangement that makes use of reverb drenched guitars, lilting piano lines, electronic flourishes, and even dreamy horns. After over half of its runtime the song shifts into an intimate acoustic ballad with Ray’s fragile harmonies ruminating on blurry snapshots of memory. Ray discussed the new song saying, “I wrote ‘coyote (2015-2021)’ when we were driving through Ohio, or one of those big open nothingness states. The same simple, beautiful meaningless moments accrue meaning through repetition.”
Since forming Teen Suicide in 2009, Ray has led the project through endless sonic shifts and evolutions, always leaving listeners on their toes but completely along for the ride. From scrappy lo-fi punk to bombastic post-rock to ambient soundscapes, the most consistent thing about Teen Suicide–and its various permutations, like American Pleasure Club–is Ray’s intense creativity and the deeply compelling songwriting that results from it. Now after years of tinkering “coyote (2015-2021)” is finally out in the world and listeners are once again left wondering what’s next from Teen Suicide.
