Palehound Announces New Album Eye On The Bat

It’s been four years since we’ve heard from Palehound, when El Kempner and their band released the terrific LP Black Friday in 2019. But, we haven’t been without tunes from Kempner since. In 2021, they teamed up with Jay Som’s Melina Duterte to form Bachelor and released Doomin’ Sun to much deserved acclaim. Now, Kempner is back with a new album as Palehound. Eye On The Bat arrives on July 14 via Polyvinyl Records. The record is a “documentation of illusions in the face of profound change.”

Lead single “The Clutch” is a heavy, electrifying guitar track that puts Kempner’s vocals at the center, as they skate atop mystifying riffs and solos in seismic fashion and chronicle a relationship on the brink of crumbling apart. “You didn’t need my help,” Kempner sings over and over, as the arrangement swells and then fades. It’s a roaring return to a beloved project, and, if “The Clutch” is any signal to the sonic ethos of Eye On The Bat in its entirety, then a triumphant, unforgettable project is set to befall upon us all this summer.

“‘The Clutch'” is the very first song I wrote for this album, back in 2020 right when lockdown started. I had been on a tour that was sliced in half by the onset of the pandemic and we had to apocalypse road trip back to New York across the country from Oregon, where our next show had been scheduled for. While that was happening, I was also having a triggering romantic experience with somebody I didn’t know too well, and by the time I got home my whole body seemed to be spinning in turmoil. Writing and producing this song grounded me and helped me process a new future and self that I hadn’t anticipated,” Kempner says.

Watch the music video for “The Clutch” and check out the artwork and tracklist for Eye On The Bat below.

Eye On The Bat Artwork:

Eye On The Bat Tracklist:
Good Sex
Independence Day
The Clutch
Eye On The Bat
U Want It U Got It
Route 22
My Evil
Head Like Soup
Right About You
Fadin’