Daily Dose: Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Alibi”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team. Today’s installment features “Alibi” by Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Ever since they put out Life On Earth last February, I’ve been holding my breath over when Hurray for the Riff Raff would return with their next chapter. Now, the time has finally come. The Past is Still Alive finds Alynda Segarra teaming up with producer Brad Cook and peers Conor Oberst, Hand Habits, Anjimile, S.G. Goodman and others. The new LP is primed to include everything from Eileen Myles’ writing to relics of railroad culture, and lead single “Alibi” immediately establishes itself as one of the best country tracks of 2023 thus far.

Segarra’s vocals arrive with a pensive twang worn-in and worn-out, as they mine for common ground, for plain-spoken understanding with someone whose days are numbered. “You know that time can take you for a ride, can take you by surprise,” they sing. “Maybe you’ll roll snake eyes. Baby tell me why you gotta play your luck. Two aces, call your bluff. I love you very much, and all that other stuff.” The whole record was recorded a month after Segarra lost their father, and “Alibi” arrives as a gut-wrenching portrait of memory, addiction, loss and distance between kin.

If you weren’t all-in on Segarra being one of our best modern storytellers, then you will be once you tap into “Alibi.” On The Past Is Still Alive, the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter is taking portraits of childhood trips to Florida, Lower East Side addiction, outrunning cops in Nebraska and buffalo stampedes in Santa Fe and formatting them into one of the most electrifying records in recent memory and, perhaps, the greatest statement from Hurray for the Riff Raff yet. The Past Is Still Alive is at the top of our Most Anticipated Albums of 2024 list, and “Alibi” is a late-year contender for song of the year.

The Past Is Still Alive is out February 23 via Nonesuch. Listen to “Alibi” below.

The Past Is Still Alive Artwork:

The Past Is Still Alive Tracklist:
Alibi
Buffalo
Hawkmoon
Colossus of Roads
Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive)
Vetiver
Hourglass
Dynamo
The World Is Dangerous
Ogallala
Kiko Forever