There’s a reason things like vinyl records have come back around in popularity. There’s a particular joy in hearing the scratch and the static seeping from your speakers, as the music spins and enters the eardrums. Everyone yearns for it. Such a dreamy analog day lies at the center of Mouths of Babes’ “World Brand New,” the titular cut to the duo’s brand-new LP. “Baby, that was me and you when the world was new,” sings Ty Greenstein (Girlyman). Ingrid Elizabeth’s (Coyote Grace) harmonies coat the melody with a contagious earthiness, as the world twirls so does her voice.
“I wanna kiss your honey lips in the garden with the sugar plums,” sings Greenstein, painting in vibrant, brilliantly intoxicating imagery. “I wanna lie in the grass with my face, blushing red from the wine in the mid-day sun / I wanna feel your body rise like the bread I baked my hand / I wanna feel it all come true / Baby, like we used to do.”
Mouths of Babes are restless. Finding the modern world crushing, they seek out the simpler things in life, from a bygone era when time seemed to stand still and there was only ever living in the present. There was no doomscrolling on social media or even a barrage of news crackling in your ears. There was just the moment to live and breathe. “I wanna lay my body after a day of playing hard / I wanna feel it sinking deep,” sings Greenstein. She sighs in deep-chested relief. Even if it’s simply a list of wishes, there’s a catharsis buried below the surface.
Listen to “World Brand New” below.
The album — featuring contributions from multi-instrumentalist Michael Connolly, percussionists Sean Trishka and Joe Chellman, violinist Tania Elizabeth (The Avett Brothers), cellist Mai Bloomfield (the Jason Mraz Band), Vicki Randle (Motown/Tonight Show Band), and vocalist Melanie DeMore — cements the duo as one of today’s finest storytellers. Across 10 songs, their impact is undeniable, with their art throbbing with so much heart. “We feel incredibly lucky to have been able to make exactly the album we wanted to make and to have such a strong career,” the duo says in a press statement. “Thanks to our incredible fans, who believe in supporting the music that matters to them.”