Veteran indie rockers +/- are coming at you soon with their first album in a decade, Further Afield. Thus far they’ve shared “Borrowed Time” and “Gondolier” from the new LP, and now “Calling Off The Rescue” is here. It’s a strummy acoustic tune with a melancholy streak, and its video was shot on the band members’ iPhones in their practice space.

Patrick Ramos of +/- explains the song’s backstory, which reaches back many years:

I had an intro and chorus but no verse. This was back in 2016, I brought the song to the studio with James and Chris and we tried a few different arrangements, different drum beats, and chord progressions but none of them felt right to sing over. Chalked it up as one of those songs that wouldn’t be forced and had to reveal itself to us, so we left it on the shelf. A few years later, we were rehearsing, jamming really, and stumbled upon a chord progression with its matching minor feeling key, reminiscent of The Smiths, slotted in well with the original intro and chorus and we leaned into the influence. It was the missing puzzle piece.

The song also includes a chopped-up sample of Ramos’ daughter’s high school treble chorus. “I had posted a video of a beautiful performance of theirs and James suggested that we sample it for this song,” he explains. “After all the pitch-shifting, they sound unrecognizable from the original, but I like the idea of my daughter and I singing together on a recording.” Watch the video below.

Further Afield is out 5/31 on Ernest Jenning Record Co.