Penelope Isles, the Brighton-based indie-rock group whom we named one of the Best New Bands Of 2019 thanks to songs like the sprawling epic “Gnarbone,” are blessing us with their Dave Fridmann-mixed sophomore album Which Way To Happy in just a couple of weeks. We’ve already heard early tracks “Sailing Still,” “Iced Gems,” and “Sudoku.” And now they’re sharing “Terrified,” which the band’s Jack Wolter says is “about those days when you’re dying inside but have to pop out to the shop, bumping into someone, having to put on a magic show, pretending to appear that everything is OK.”
“It’s a song that has such a happy-fun-summery exterior but lyrically is totally the opposite,” Wolter continues. “It’s one of self-doubt, displacement and finding something really terrifying to handle. Sometimes we hide a lot behind ourselves. ‘Terrified’ was an outlet for me to be able to tackle scary thoughts and worries in more of an abstract way. Things can seem impossible to talk about and articulate sometimes. I feel that making this album has enabled me and my sister Lily to open up a lot more and be honest with our songs as it just makes them so much more real.” Listen below.
Which Way To Happy is out 11/5 on Bella Union. Pre-order it here.
