Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.
2023 has been a banner year for Grandaddy, a band who’ve had quite a few of those. Last month, they released a 20th anniversary box set of Sumday; today, they’ve announced their first new album in six years, Blu Wav (out February 16, 2024 via Dangerbird). The title speaks to what the project does: merge bluegrass and new wave. According to bandleader Jason Lytle, the crossover stems from him driving through the desert listening to Patti Page and wondering what her tunes might sound like with electronic instrumentation.
Lead single “Watercooler” is, immediately, one of the best Grandaddy songs in a long, long time. The Modesto indie heroes have signaled a departure from the lo-fi psychedelia and punk roots they were founded on over 30 years ago. The track centers Lytle’s vocals with such grace, as an incredible delicacy remains as potent as ever in the arrangement. It’s a tune about workplace romantic disintegration, sung with such a punctuated, subdued confidence. “And you cry in the bathroom stall, ‘cause I won’t call, although I know you hurt,” Lytle serenades. “Watercooler” is a folk tune at its core, washed aglow with airy, cosmic textures. There’s an intricacy afoot, along with a dreamy pedal steel that is present, an unusual inclusion for Grandaddy that arrives like it’s always been a part of their lore.
“Most of my relationships have involved girls who worked in office settings,” Lytle says. “This song is about the end of one, or perhaps a few, of those relationships. Listeners will also notice the pedal steel on this track and eventually on many others from the forthcoming new album. It’s a first for Grandaddy, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about this fact.”
Listen to “Watercooler” below.