Laura Jane Grace fans got an unexpected gift from the Against Me! and Devouring Mothers singer-songwriter when the musician suddenly released an EP on Wednesday (Sept. 22) called At War With the Silverfish. With no forewarning, the effort’s seven songs arrived as a total surprise.
It’s a tack Grace took with her last full-length LP, the solo album Stay Alive, which was surprise-released in October 2020. Before that, the Against Me! frontwoman issued Brought to Rot, the 2018 platter that amounted to her debut solo album, under the banner of Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers. Against Me!’s latest album, Shape Shift With Me, emerged in 2016.
Listen to the new EP toward the bottom of this post.
In a press statement, Grace tied the notion of the surprise release in with her songcraft, saying, “I’ve learned that if you share your experience with good intentions that the universe will always surprise you with abundant return. Every song is an act of faith; you don’t necessarily know why you’re singing it other than you know you’ve got to sing it.”
Per Stereogum, the EP “veers around Grace’s map of musical interests. Opener ‘Three of Hearts,’ for instance, is a strident acoustic folk-punk song, a bit like what [she] was making when Against Me! was in its infancy, while ‘Electro-Static Sweep’ is a sprawling power-pop song.”
In 2021, Grace marked three years of sobriety. In August, she played a sold-out show at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the Philadelphia-area business that became a meme following an ill-fated Donald Trump press conference hosted there last year by the former U.S. president’s then-lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
NEW MUSIC PLAYLIST: Keep up with each week’s new songs by following Loudwire’s “Weekly Wire” Spotify playlist, featuring 50 tracks with updates each Friday.
Laura Jane Grace, At War With the Silverfish EP
Laura Jane Grace, At War With the Silverfish EP Art + Track Listing
1. “Three of Hearts”
2. “Lolo 13”
3. “Long Dark Night”
4. “Electro-Static Sweep”
5. “Day Old Coffee”
6. “Smug FuckFace”
7. “Yesterday Pt. II”
