Knifeplay has offered us another track off their upcoming record. “Ryan Song” is out everywhere, along with its achingly beautiful music video.

This is the second and the last single before Animal Drowning drops on October 19! Give it a listen and pre-save the album.

"Ryan Song" finds Knifeplay a little more vulnerable than you may be used to, stripping away their walls of distortion down to a solemn piano, slide guitar, and vocal harmonies. Less shoe, more gaze??

“This song is about a friend who died young. He was a gifted writer and an incredible, one of a kind person who judged no one. Yet he was deeply misunderstood by most and lived with a lot of pain. A late-night conversation with a mutual friend inspired me to write something that was really about him, rather than my selfish feelings on his passing. Obviously, I will never know for sure if these words actually would have resonated with him, but I did my best with what I do know and I think the feelings expressed in this song are things anyone can relate to.” -Tj Strohmer

“Ryan Song sounded like a lot was being mourned but I really wanted to just lean into this kind of romantic longing for the beautiful lightness of the world. As with all of Tj’s music I knew I had to have some kind of brooding darkness as well and what made sense the most I guess was using beautiful natural landscapes mixed in with hellish post industrial stuff. Filming musicians playing live is always interesting to me because you never know exactly how someone will express the emotionality of the music and I really liked how Tj, Johnny, and Max look here.” -Ben Turok, music video director

The band was also named Band To Watch by Stereogum, and did an interview with them. You should indeed watch, listen, and read. They talk about writing their upcoming record, shoegaze, 9-to-5s, Philly DIY, and so much more.