Still just juniors in college, Swings' Dan Howard, Jamie Finucane, and Zach Lewton are already at work on their sophomore full-length album. Split between New Hampshire and Oberlin College (full disclosure: my alma mater), they just got signed to Exploding In Sound, which is putting out their record Sugarwater in November. I like that album name, because it sounds sweet (duh), but also because it brings both fluidity and cycles to mind.
That is, according to Jamie, what this new track "Tiles" is all about: "I don't want to over-explain, but it's about repetition, and the bathroom, and dirtiness, and falling into old routines," he told The FADER.
They may have a preoccupation with cleanliness (their first record is called Detergent Hymns), but I get it, man. Being twenty-ish is messy—you do a lot of shifting, shaking-off of old behaviors, feeling dirty, and trying to get clean—both physically and mentally. "Tiles" clocks in at under three minutes, but manages to exude both sadness and hopefulness in that short time. The boys of Swings have played with fellow indie rock types Krill and Ava Luna, which means they're in good company, and they've taken the semester off to tour, which means they're serious.
Stream "Tiles" below, and pre-order Sugarwater here (you can also get the cassette, if that's your style).