P.E.’s “Blue Nude (Reclined)” is soft and a little sleazy

P.E. are something of a supergroup, depending on your defintion of the word "super." Formed in 2019 from the ashes of NYC post-punk band Pill and their fellow DIY pals Eaters, the five-piece band have collaborated with like-minded peers including Xiu Xiu and Liars, as well as touring with Parquet Courts (whose Andrew Savage released music by both Pill and Eaters on his Dull Tools label). In 2020 they dropped their addictive debut Person before returning last year with the equally charming EP, The Reason For My Love.

There's enough names dropped now for people to know if they're interested but P.E.'s music talks for itself. The prolific group are prepping to release a second studio album, The Leather Lemon is due March 25 via Brooklyn label Wharf Cat Records. "Blue Nude (Reclined)" is the first single from the album and moves the band's sound into increasingly groove-based territory with an added flash of danger. Vocalist Veronica Torres sings of "prickled skin," "warm spit," and "brutal lovers" over a synthetic beat illuminated by stabs of saxophone and percussion. The sound of No Wave, specifically acts like Liquid Liquid and ESG, is alive in the liminal space between club and pop worlds "Blue Nude" exists in.

Speaking about the new song in a statement, Veronica Torres of the band told The FADER: "This was one of the first songs we wrote for the new record, shortly after settling ourselves mentally and physically around the country. With all of our tour plans scrapped in the initial wave of the pandemic, the five of us decided to put our energies into writing new material for the next record, trading files back and forth in order to shape our new sound. 'Blue Nude' quickly became an inspiration for the rest of The Leather Lemon, something that foregrounded both the song and the sound, as fun as it was abstract."

Thumbnail image courtesy of Vince McClelland.