On June 4, Shovels & Rope, the husband and wife duo featuring Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, released a pair of singles off their impending album Something Is Working Up Above My Head, due September 6 via Dualtone Records. A preview of the imminent record, the pair unveiled tracks “Colorado River” and the Gregory Alan Isakov-featured “Love Song From A Dog.” Listen below. 

The singles arrived after Shovels & Rope hopped onstage at the hometown venue, the Charleston Pour House, to help out Matthew Logan Vasquez (Delta Spirit) during his concert, assisting on “Blue Eyes,” according to the artist’s official Instagram post. Continuing their public-facing moves, Hearst and Trent followed days later, unleashing a pair of songs from their impending full-length release–which functions as a sonic shift, leaning into heavier punk-side while still staying true to their story-teller roots and integration of narrative form sonic deliverables. 

Shovels & Rope is in a prolific period, having delivered two albums in the last four years: Busted Jukebox Vol. 3 (2021) and Manticore (2022). With a year and some change to put together their latest work and fourth release via Dualtone, the collection frames itself around the question of who or what is actually in control, as framed via the band’s press release, “whether spiritual, metaphysical, or pragmatic.”

Listen to “Colorado River” and the Gregory Alan Isakov-featured “Love Song From A Dog.”