Penny and Sparrow Announce New Album Finch, Share First Single

Indie-folk duo Penny and Sparrow have announced the release of their next album, Finch, due out Aug. 2 via Thirty Tigers. The announcement is accompanied by a new single, titled “Eloise.”

If Bon Iver had grown up around Waffle Houses and the kind of humidity so ruthless it makes oxygen feel tangible, he might have written “Eloise.” But he didn’t, so Penny and Sparrow filled the position for him.

“Eloise” is a short story collection all on its own,” say Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke, who make up Penny and Sparrow. “Some of the stories it tells are romantic, some are gruesome, some are hopeful & others are full of remorse, but all of them are trying to answer the same question: What does it look like when you change tribes and base your life on something new?!”

While “Eloise” feels comfortably nostalgic for anyone who’s grown up to the sound of cicada chatter, Finch ultimately delves into something more vulnerable and less romantic: reckoning.

“We were both brought up in the conservative South, where you’re instilled with the notion that the straight white Evangelical Christian male perspective is, if not the only, then the most correct view,” Baxter explains. “We didn’t understand how wrong that was until we went out and experienced the world for ourselves.”

A relatable process for many, Finch offers up a perspective shift on everything from masculinity and sex to religion and divorce.

“Almost everything changed for us in these last two years,” says Baxter. “It was a painful experience in a lot of ways, but it was also a joyful one.”

Penny and Sparrow will perform in the Paste Studio on Monday, May 13, at 4:30 p.m. ET, playing some of their new music for the very first time. You can catch their session via the embed below, or over on our YouTube channel.

Listen to “Eloise” below, and find the tracklist and album art for Finch further down, as well as Penny and Sparrow’s tour dates, which include a supporting run with Josh Ritter. And while you’re here, check out the duo’s 2014 Daytrotter Session, also included below.

Finch Album Art:

Finch Tracklist:
01. Long Gone
02. Eloise Preamble
03. Eloise
04. Don’t Wanna Be Without Ya
05. Cult Classically
06. Bishop
07. Recuerda
08. Hannah
09. Stockholm
10. It’s Hysterical
11. Gumshoe

Penny and Sparrow Tour Dates:

May
08 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Danforth Music Hall #
09 – Montreal, Qué. @ L’Astral #
10 – Northampton, Mass. @ Calvin Theater #
11 – Boston, Mass. @ The Wilbur #
14 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Keswick Theatre #
16 – Munhall, Pa. @ Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall #
17 – Washington, D.C. @ Lincoln Theatre #
18 – Charlottesville, Va. @ The Jefferson Theater #
19 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse #
21 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Taft Theatre #
22 – Chicago, Ill. @ The Vic Theatre #
23 – Detroit, Mich. The Majestic Theatre #

June
20 – Boise, Idaho @ The Egyptian Theatre #
21 – Spokane, Wash. @ Knitting Factory #
22 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Vogue Theatre #
23 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Moore Theatre #
25 – Portland, Ore. @ Revolution Hall #
26 – Portland, Ore. @ Revolution Hall #
28 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater #
29 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel #

July
12-14 – Louisville, Ky. @ Forecastle Festival

September
06 – Opelika, Ala. @ John Emerald Distilling
07 – Asheville, N.C. @. Orange Peel
08 – Chattanooga, Tenn. @ Moon River Festival
14 -Charlotte, N.C. @ Neighborhood Theatre
15 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Cat’s Cradle
17 – Rocky Mount, Va. @ Harvester Performance Arts Center
18 – Richmond, Va. @ The Broadberry
24 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom
28 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Fine Line Music
29 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Record Bar

October
01 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Old Rock House
04 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Bijou Theatre
06 – Birmingham, Ala. @ The Saturn
17 – Houston, Texas @ The Heights Theater
18 – Dallas, Texas @ Majestic Theater
19 – Austin, Texas @ Paramount Theater

November
06 – San Diego, Calif. @ Belly Up
15 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ State Room
16 – Denver, Colo. @ Gothic Theatre
17 – Fort Collins, Colo. @ Armory
20 – Oklahoma City, Okla. @ Tower Theatre

(# = with Josh Ritter)