Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Kevin Cole, co-host of Drive Time on KEXP, is "Handsome Wife" by Pillow Queens, from the 2020 self-released album In Waiting.
Dublin's Pillow Queens were both "resonant and rapturous" during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival broadcast last year, and the Irish quartet continue to bring that power to their highly-anticipated debut album In Waiting, out September 25th. For the first single off the forthcoming full-length, they share an upbeat, grunge-influenced track along with a heartwarming accompanying video. "The video was made in isolation with the help of family, friends and strangers," the band writes in the introduction. "It is a love letter to touch and all the ways we miss the closeness of others right now."
“‘Handsome Wife’ begins with a glimpse into an emotional homecoming, one that intensifies and romanticises the seemingly insignificant,” the band said via a press release. “Throughout, the mundane but tender moments are held up and deified, paying reverence to the ease in which a love can thrive outside the realms of tradition.”
“The song continuously references structures and rituals that were once out of reach, but are now within our grasp. In spite of this Handsome Wife affirms that they pale in comparison to the communities we’ve built ourselves.”
