Butch Spring is “about being humbled by a mid-30s identity crisis,” Sara Renberg explains, “and the confusion and joy that results,” something first single ‘Will You Will Want Me’ introduces perfectly. “As soon as I let myself want what I wanted,” Renberg sings at the beginning, “I knew what I wanted.” And what they wanted, it soon becomes apparent, is to not wear lipstick and vintage dresses, to take on the appearance of someone feminine just to fulfil a role.

Renberg’s writing is as impressive as ever, approaching deep personal feelings and epiphanies with a sense of playful, deadpan poetry that you might expect from Malkmus or Berman. Which here entails a perfectly sketched bar scene (“On Saturday nights, the dykes from the suburbs all cluster by the door / And the jock girls play pool and they hog the jukebox, but stay off the dance floor”), and a love interest described as looking like both “a genderbent Elvis Pressley” and “a butch James Dean.”

The song feels like a distillation of the album’s entire message, capturing that sunshiney springtime feeling of finally being yourself, and the green shoots of new possibilities the feeling brings. But it’s tempered too by uncertainty and the fear of change, particularly the fear of how that change will be received by others. Ultimately, it all comes down to the song’s central question (and its final line): “Will you still want me if I stop trying to be what you want?”

Butch Spring will be released on the 5th March and you ca get it from the Antiquated Records Bandcamp page.

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Excitingly, this summer is Antiquated Future Records’ seventh birthday, and to celebrate the label are releasing The First Seven Years, a compilation that spans their releases to date. Mastered by Fred Thomas, the nineteen-song release is a celebration of the entire Antiquated Future Records roster. Today, we have the pleasure of hosting the whole thing ahead of the physical release next month.

The album opens with the pleasingly retro-sounding (and previously unreleased) ‘A Fast Ska’ by Evan Hashi’s Little Angry & The Sweets, and from there dives into the last seven years of Antiquated Future releases. From the sultry slow burn of Flying Circles to the unmistakable, oddly graceful folk of David Thomas Broughton, the compilation illustrates both the range of the Antiquated Future discography and the common thread that unites every artist, a spirit more than a sound—an unwavering dedication to make art in their own unique way. There are moments of power too, like Tucker Theodore‘s ‘Movement 9 (High Descent)’ with it’s distorted post-rock vibes, and the slow tidal rhythms of Midwife‘s ‘Angel’, Madeline Johnston’s voice grainy as though beamed from the bottom of a murky pool of static.

This variety continues across the entire compilation. The subtly euphoric crystalline dreamscape of Reighnbeau‘s ‘Gold Face’ segues into the sparkling but emotionally poignant pop gem ‘Never Finds You’ by VSF fav The Washboard Abs, a track we previously described as “quietly devastating […] forgo[ing] any sense of metaphor or allusion in favour of a brave and direct account of dealing with the serious illness of a loved one.” There’s a devotional quality to Jordan O’ Jordan‘s ‘Patience is Gruesome’, a wheezing hymn that escalates into a shrieking choir, while Sara Renberg brings wry humour that wouldn’t be out of place in a whip-smart graphic novel, and Eleanor Murray delivers a smooth and intimate folk song to close things out.

But don’t take our word for it, stream the whole thing below and find your favourite:

Design and layout by Andrew Barton at Two Plum Press

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First single ‘Roger Miller Baby’ is the perfect illustration of what Night Sands is all about. It opens with an awkward introduction to the baby of the title, capturing that feeling of seeing the people you grow up with start families of their own and having to feign interest in their own personal little miracles (“I met your baby, he looks like Roger Miller / you nearly named him after a notable killer”). Renberg’s experience as a poet is pretty plain to see. The writing is great, gently funny and surprisingly affecting, painting little snapshots of scenes that are pretty and amusing and (probably) all too familiar.

The even stride of guitar and drums on ‘Ex Party’ lays the foundation a story set in the backyard of a loved one’s ex (“she was so cool, she was from Alaska and she played drums and had good  tattoos”). From there the song runs away with the narrator’s thoughts—including a daydream triggered by fireworks, and some pretty introspective rumination on the transience of many relationships

“And I was so in love with you
and so aware that it could fall away at any minute
I knew if I was ever gonna write you a love song
I better do it quick”

“Here’s a thing that isn’t true but feels like it is,” Renberg sings at the beginning of ‘Elderly Lesbians’, “I’ve been alone since I was born.” It’s one of the many songs on the album that deal with being single into your 30s, of being uncertain about the future and worried about the uncertainty. But, as the title suggests, ‘Take the Summer Off’ is an attempt to escape that thought process, and the notion of a conventional path in life. “While couples compared seven shades of black, we walked our friends dogs and then gave them back,” Renberg sings, “it can be a good time to be, outside of time.” The song sounds composed and comforting, conjuring the image of golden evening light slanting through the trees, a reminder that it’s okay to take a little time out every now and then, especial if things seem particularly strange or scary.

‘The Only Gay Person’ is another self-evident title, a song about being the odd one out, told in Renberg’s usual humorous but genuine manner, before finale ‘I’ll Decide to Have a Problem’ caps off the album with a gentle rumination on self-sufficiency and being close to others.

“well I still got problems
they haven’t gone away
but you make me feel like I could be solved?
and it could be okay”

You can get Night Sands by now via Antiquated Future as a digital download or cassette tape, featuring lovely artwork from Liana Jegers.

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