Dawes will release their seventh studio album, Good Luck With Whatever, on Oct. 2 via Rounder Records. They previewed the LP with lead single “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?,” a reliably steady rocker built on a new wave-y bass pulse, chiming piano, and cleanly arranged vocal harmonies.
“Who do you think you’re talking to? / Is it the man that was here before me?” frontman Taylor Goldsmith sings on the track. “The one that wrecked your heart and walked? / ‘Cause if it is then I’ll let you talk / It’s clear that’s something you’re still working through / But who, who do you think you’re talking to?”
They paired the tune with a playful video that makes creative use of green screen, showing the singer as he drives down the highway, pilots a plane into the clouds, launches into space, and escapes a trailing shark underwater. (He also gets a lot of mileage of out his facial hair, or lack thereof, playing different characters depending on the length.) Watch and listen below.
Dawes recorded Good Luck With Whatever, which follows 2018’s Passwords, at Nashville’s RCA Studio 6 with producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Chris Stapleton).
In a statement, Goldsmith detailed his creative mindset entering the project.
“In the past, I’ve definitely been more precious about the way I wanted the songs to sound, but that’s never as fun,” he said. “The music we make is everyone’s mode of expression, and the other guys all have chops that I don’t have and never will. The fact that we’re able to lean on each other and celebrate each other as individuals just makes us so much more excited about getting to play together in this band.”
Dawes — Good Luck With Whatever Tracklist
1. “Still Feel Like A Kid”
2. “Good Luck With Whatever”
3. “Between The Zero and The One”
4. “None Of My Business”
5. “St. Augustine At Night”
6. “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?”
7. “Didn’t Fix Me”
8. “Free As We Want To Be”
9. “Me Especially”
