Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild

Merce Lemon built her latest album: Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild within the quiet, cascading corners of Pittsburgh, where a community – essentially one large family – spans neighborhoods and generations.

These are earnest songs, of belonging and longing, in which romantic and familial love rip into and out of themselves in a flurry of reckoning. There is a fierceness, a persistence in this vulnerability, that is matched by the wildness of her band.

Merce took a step back from music in 2020, after releasing her debut album Moonth, to reassess. "Music was just something I'd always done, and I didn't want to lose the magic of that – but I was just having less fun."

In this time of restless confusion, she got back to her roots. "I got dirty and slept outside most of the summer. I learned a lot about plants and farming, just writing for myself, and in that time I slowly accumulated songs."

A creative hunger, supported by her community, had been newly fertilized. From this rediscovery, imbued with the vitality of earth's green magic, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild sprouted forth.

RIYL: Big Thief, Wednesday, Squirrel Flower, MJ Lenderman, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Babehoven.