MS MR Announce New Album How Does It Feel For July 2015 Release

(Photo credit: Sharon Alagna)

Indie Pop duo MS MR (said as “Miz Mister”) have announced that their highly anticipated album, How Does It Feel, will be released on July 17th, 2015, via Columbia Records.

How Does It Feel features 12 brand new high-octane songs, and finds the duo – comprised of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow – returning to the visceral, intimate style that was key in launching their career three years ago. Their 2013 debut, Secondhand Rapture, had been recorded for several hundred dollars in spare rooms throughout Brooklyn, New York. So, when it came time to record this follow-up, Plapinger and Hershenow chose to return to their old stomping grounds.

In late 2014, they rented a small room in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, and began to craft the material that’s heard on How Does It Feel. However, this songwriting adventure provided the duo with a chance to try co-writing with fellow musicians, which was something they had not previously tried. The track “Pieces” was a co-write with Tove Lo, and MDNR leant a hand in the writing of another song, “Tripolar.” Even MS MR drummer Zach Nicita jumped in and helped to co-wrote and co-produce several of the new tracks.

How Does It Feel was recorded in studios in New York and Los Angeles, including Electric Lady Studios, White Bronco Studios and the band’s own Creep City Studios. And, once again, Plapinger and Hershenow chose to collaborate with multi-Grammy award winner Tom Elmhirst to mix the album at Electric Lady Studios. In addition to working with MS MR, Elmhirst has worked with Adele, the late Amy Winehouse, Arcade Fire, and Beck, amongst many other notable names in music.

Most recently, MS MR teamed up with director Tabitha Denholm to create the music video for their Top 30 Alternative Radio single, “Painted,” which premiered at The Fader.

“We were thrilled to work with Tabitha to bring ‘Painted’ to life in our new video,” the band said in a press release. “We were heavily inspired by Kubrick as well as the 1970s documentary ‘The Secret Life of Plants.’ Focusing on the lyric: what did you think would happen/when you put me in unnatural space, we wanted to explore the juxtaposition of natural and unnatural environments and what happens when they’re forced to reckon with one another. The end result is a virtual reality psychedelic experiment gone awry—welcome to the odyssey.”

Check it out, below.