Palehound’s new album Eye On The Bat, due out July 14 on Polyvinyl Record Co., is a documentation of illusions shattering in the face of profound change. Witnessing the tiny details that build or break a relationship, and the flood that comes after. Today El Kempner (they/them) unleashes new album cut “My Evil” alongside a spectacular lyric video that pays homage to cult favorite, The Sopranos.

Kempner slices deep with bold honesty on the relatable new song explaining, “My Evil” is about the extremely humbling experience of realizing that yes, you Are the asshole. I found myself acting in ways I was ashamed of, and realizing how capable I was of hurting somebody when I was trying so hard not to. Sometimes when you try so hard to be a “good person” you’re actually swinging so far and recklessly that you make a full circle back to being a shithead. It can be very hard to forgive yourself, and this song is a portrait of that struggle for me.”

“The Sopranos is a show that’s been constantly on loop in my life for the past few years,” shares Kempner about the video’s inspiration. “When I got the idea to make a video based on the intro credits of Tony driving through Jersey, I knew I had to do it with my friend Richard Orofino. He’s possibly even a bigger Sopranos fan than I am and he did an incredible job mapping out a lot of the original locations from the show, including Tony’s house that we see at the end of the video. This whole thing was super DIY, just me and Richard (and his camcorder) having the time of our lives and being embarrassing superfans. It’s not exactly shot for shot of the original but, to brag for a sec, I’m truly amazed at how close we were able to get it.”

Eye On The Bat is Kempner’s latest release since Black Friday (2019) and Doomin’ Sun (2021) by Bachelor (a collaborative project with Jay Som’s Melina Duterte). Recorded in brief stints across 2022 at Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskills, they stepped up to the soundboard for the first time, co-producing the new album alongside Sam Evian (Big Thief, Cass McCombs). Kempner also credits multi-instrumentalist Larz Brogan, who they refer to as “my platonic life partner” and longtime member of Palehound since the Boston DIY days, as a vital part of making the album come together the way it did. 

Eye On The Bat is the biggest – and best – Palehound has sounded on record. It is not a hopeful record in content, but it presents listeners with a reminder that – if you made it through that, you’ll handle whatever comes next.

Photo Courtesy: Tonje Thilesen