Acclaimed indie-pop band The Lives Of Famous Men will release their new album Greener Pasture Blues this Friday, November 10. (pre-order). The album is the first release since the band’s EP, Field Memory was released in 2020. In anticipation of Friday’s release date the band is excited to share their final pre-release single, “You and Me in the PRC.” The track debuted today at Analogue and can also be shared at YouTube.
On the album and single, the band’s lead singer Daniel Hall says:
This album is about a lot of things, but if there’s one idea present throughout, it’s that external change isn’t a shortcut to internal change, and there are parts of yourself that you can’t outrun. ‘You and Me in the PRC’ is a kind of tongue-in-cheek expression of this idea: frustrated with delays on the New York City subway, the narrator daydreams of life in the People’s Republic of China where, hazardous air pollution aside, the trains at least tend to run on time. It’s a bit of dark comedy, sure, but it’s a playful song nonetheless. There’s even a musical easter egg in the bridge — the marimba melody was inspired by the MTA door chimes. Otherwise, it’s one of our more straightforward guitar tunes, which made it a lot of fun to track.
“You and Me in the PRC,” follows the band’s singles “Yuri” and “Darling Come Home” which are available now on all streaming platforms for any playlist shares.
Hailing from Alaska and based primarily in Los Angeles, The Lives of Famous Men draw on wide ranging musical traditions to create a sound all their own. This unique brand of art-pop makes for a danceable live show that’s landed them on stages from MTV’s Campus Invasion Tour to Jimmy Kimmel Live, where they performed the song You’re Everyone I Know Right Now.
Since forming in 2007, LoFM has collaborated with producers including James Paul Wisner (Paramore), Casey Bates (Portugal. The Man), and Paul Q Kolderie (Radiohead). Their single Annie Taylor became an unexpected club hit when it was remixed by The Angry Kids, and their song Orchids has been a fan favorite ever since it featured prominently in Jennette McCurdy’s short film Strong Independent Women.
This summer the band entered the studio with producer Alex Newport (Bloc Party) to record their new album Greener Pasture Blues. “As the title suggests, the album is about coming to terms with the fact that external change isn’t a shortcut to internal change, an idea reflected in the Motown-inspired lead single “Darling Come Home.” In the synthy “Yuri,” the narrator pines for a pre-recession New York captured in a Union Square street artist’s $10 sketch, while “You and Me in the PRC” offers a tongue-in-cheek daydream of life in the People’s Republic of China, set against a bed of guitars and a marimba melody that recalls MTA subway chimes.
Through storytelling rich with allusions and wordplay, and a sound that’s more driving and focused than ever, Greener Pasture Blues finds The Lives of Famous Men in top form.
