Photo: Chloe Sells
It's been two years since Michigan's Stef Chura burst out with her contagious debut LP, Messes. That album was written way back in 2015, long before the Trump presidency and the universe as a whole gave the title an extra edge. So maybe it's the impending sense of disaster and permacrisis of the past four years that's led Chura to the freneticism of "Method Man," the first single from her newly announced Saddle Creek debut, Midnight (out June 7). A pared-down, scratchy, borderline chaotic single — closer to the Two Gallants end of the Saddle Creek roster than the Bright Eyes end, but more freewheeling than either — "Method Man" is a look back at a superior-feeling, over-caffeinated, nicotine-addled man from Chura's past, by way of Wu-Tang Clan. The song sounds as much like the man's psyche as it sounds like Chura's anxiety in his presence.
In a press release accompanying the single, Chura remembered that frustration:
A long time ago I was pondering the literal words "Method Man” while listening to Wu-Tang. There was a person in my life that I had a confusing array of emotions for, sometimes I was in love with him, I admired and looked up to him, I thought of him as superior to me. He was older than me and I was a teenager. At that age I experienced a titanic amount of anxiety that usually expressed itself as silence.
This song was born out of a total frustration regarding a man who seemed "methodical" to me. He was literate. He waxed poetic. Almost someone...how do I say this…that you wanted to be condescending to you? As long as they were talking to you. He drank a lot of energy drinks and had this overall outlook that no one understood him. That he was in on some kind of cosmic secret that I couldn't get. He smoked so many cigs it stained his fingers yellow.
He was always talking, and I was so enamored with this person. I was always nervous to reply. He would go on and on for hours. He sometimes would look at me and be like "oh maybe you won't get this.... maybe you don't get this." I was too terrified to say much.
Listen to "Method Man" below and check out Chura's upcoming tour dates at the foot of the page.
March 12 - Austin, TX @ Beerland - Tiger Bomb Promo (SXSW)
March 13 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda - GCT Showcase (SXSW)
March 14 - Austin, TX @ Container Bar - Dr. Martens (SXSW)
March 14 - Austin, TX @ Hole in the Wall - The Grey Estates / New Professor Records (SXSW)
March 15 - Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlies - AdHoc Free For All (SXSW)
July 5 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
July 6 - Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
July 7 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake
July 8 - Montreal, QC @ Casa del Popolo
July 9 - Boston, MA @ Great Scott
July 12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
July 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
July 15 - Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
July 16 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
July 17 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
July 19 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
July 20 - Houston, TX @ The Satellite
July 21 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
July 22 - Dallas, TX @ Regal Room
July 25 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
July 26 - San Diego, CA @ Sodabar
July 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theatre
July 28 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
July 30 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
July 31 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
August 1 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
August 2 - Spokane, WA @ Lucky You Lounge
August. 3 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
August 5 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
August 6 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
August 7 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb
August 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
August 10 - Milwaukee, WI @ Backroom at Colectivo