Indie supergroup Piroshka announced their sophomore album Love Drips and Gathers is set to release on July 23 via Bella Union. The band, consisting of Lush vocalist Miki Berenyi, Moose guitarist K.J. McKillop, Modern English bassist Michael Conroy and Elastica drummer Justin Welch, released the first single off the album, called “Scratching at the Lid.”

“Scratching at the Lid” is a song about making the most of opportunities and taking things day by day. Berenyi sings about leaving the past behind, including the frightening chorus, “What will they say when they put you in the ground/Scratching at the lid as the box goes down/You threw it all away, away.” It’s a very upbeat track tonally, meant to encourage rather than to criticize. The atmospheric shoegaze-inspired guitars, bright fills and catchy bass line all go towards turning the tune into something uplifting.

In the music video, a young girl treats herself on a day off from school, trying on dresses and makeup, playing around, baking a cake and singing karaoke. It was directed by Home Picture Films’ Connor Kinsey, who captures the joy of the here and now through the girl and includes snippets of the lyrics on screen, such as “Only good for one ride/On the carousel/The only time around.”

Love Drips and Gathers is the follow-up to their 2018 debut Brickbat. Berenyi states that if Brickbat is considered to be their Britpop album, then Love Drips And Gathers is their shoegaze one. Her previous band Lush was known for combining the two genres. She continues, “It wasn’t intentional; we just wanted a different focus. I’ve always seen debut albums as capturing a band’s first moments, when you really have momentum, and then the second album is the chance for a more thoughtful approach.”

Conroy backed up her comment, “Brickbat was a classic first album; noisy and raucous. On Love Drips And Gathers, we’ve calmed down and explored sounds, and space.” The new album’s name comes from a line of Dylan Thomas’ poem “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower.” The line is “Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood/Shall calm her sores.”

Love Drips And Gathers tracklist:

1. Hastings 1973
2. The Knife Thrower’s Daughter
3. Scratching at the Lid
4. Loveable
5. V.O.
6. Wanderlust
7. Echo Loco
8. Familiar
9. We Told You