Hand Habits announces new album, Blue Reminder

At the core of Blue Reminder the genuine joy of love and self-actualisation are always balanced against the potential fear of losing those things once you’ve found them. “For this record I set out to no longer shapeshift when it came to the person I become in the face of love,” explains Duffy.

“Both lyrically and in its production, this song is about the impossibility of return—you can’t go back to the way things were, no matter how much you might want to hold on to a time, or a feeling, or a person,” Duffy explains. “Lyrically there’s a kind of desperation (“I need it now more than ever”), but in it there’s also a request, “don’t take it away just yet,” which is not a question but a demand, and I wanted the production to reflect that. That in longing, there can be this sharper, wild edge. Like, no I need this, give it to me, don’t take it away.”

Recorded in Los Angeles with co-producer Joseph Lorge, Blue Reminder finds Duffy once again collaborating with an impressive coterie of musicians, including Alan Wyffels, Gregory Uhlmann, Olivia Kaplan, Blake Mills, Tim Carr, Daniel Aged, and Joshua Johnson and Anna Butters of SML.

“I think it's so corny to write love songs,” admits Duffy, who is somewhat loath to think of Blue Reminder as simply a love record. “I can’t deny that a lot of these are ostensibly love songs, but they are also love songs through my very specific kind of lens. It is about how falling in love does feel both terrifying and exciting, but this record is about commitment in a lot of ways. Committing to a person, to an idea, to being a more honest version of yourself."

Tracklist:

1. More Today
2. Wheel of Change
3. Nubble
4. Dead Rat
5. Jasmine Blossoms
6. Way It Goes
7. (Forgiveness)
8. Beauty 62
9. Bluebird of Happiness
10. Blue Reminder
11. Quiet Summer
12. Living Proof