Ezra Furman

For the second Harpoons album we took the terms of the first and ratcheted up the stakes, cranked up the volume and drank way more coffee. We did it in the same studio with the same producer, Brian Deck, once again in under a week. The difference was we had toured extensively, becoming much more capable as a band, and my songwriting had become sharper, more coherent, darker and (somehow) even more emotional. We also brought in a new lead guitarist on a handful of songs, Andrew Langer, who had years of rock’n’roll experience in his previous band, the Redwalls. It all adds up to a perfect encapsulation of being twenty-one years old and socially maladjusted.

Also, in retrospect, this is secretly a concept album about being trans. That was a secret even from me. It’s not only about that, but that is definitely there. I was trying to ask what’s inside a human being, how to transcend the material, how not to feel trapped in a body. While also hoping that people would dance a little at our shows.