Here’s something really fresh for your Tuesday — indie singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale has been teasing new music for a minute now, and we’ve finally got word of what’s to come from the Pittsburgh artist. Better By Now, Annibale’s new album, will drop on September 30th via Nettwerk Music Group. Produced by Christian “Leggy” Langdon (Joseph, Amos Lee) and Matthew E White (Natalie Prass, Dan Croll), Better By Now was described by Annibale as “basically half about falling in love and half about mental health.” In advance, she’s shared the album’s captivating title track and music video.
“Better By Now” marks a subtle shift in direction from Annibale, and it sort of sounds like Sharon Van Etten fronting The Cure. Hazy, interlocking guitars swirl in the background while Annibale effortlessly glides over it all with a soothing timbre — it’s a really pretty and enjoyable song and an intoxicating preview of the album. Regarding the track, Annibale shared the following—
“I wrote this song in early January 2021. We had literally just put the Christmas tree out on the curb, and I felt this terrible sentimental feeling for it. This was also the same week as the Capitol attack. We had pushed through 2020, looking at 2021 as some kind of savior, but once it arrived nothing really changed. There was still the same intensely hostile political discourse and the pandemic continued raging on. It felt like things were getting worse somehow, when I hoped for it to be better by now. Reflecting on that time, it taught me that expecting a perfect external outcome will not lead to feeling better. I’ve got to do the internal work to have any kind of peace with the roller coaster of life.”
Watch the music video for “Better By Now” directed by Grant Claire below, and keep scrolling to find Annibale’s tour dates for the fall.
TOUR DATES
07/21-Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird #
07/22-Ann Arbor, MI @ Ann Arbor Art Fair
07/23-Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom #
07/24-Grand Rapids, MI @ The Listening Lawn #
07/27-Toronto, ON @Horseshoe Tavern #
07/28-Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz #
08/02-Edgartown, MA @ Winnetu w/ WMVY
08/04-West Yarmouth, MA @ The Music Room !
09/02-Portsmouth, NH @ The Music Hall !
10/08-Exeter, NH @ The Word Barn
10/20-Lake Orion, MI @ 20 Front Street
10/29-Warren, RI @ Imago Art Gallery
11/10-Natick, MA @ TCAN *
11/12-Philadelphia, PA @ City Winery *
11/13-Washington, DC @ City Winery *
11/17-Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli Vredenburg
11/18-Cologne, DE @ Die Wohngemeinschaft
11/19-Berlin, DE @ Barkett
11/20-Hanover, DE @ House Show
11/22-London, UK @ Grace
#with Tall Heights
! with Will Dailey
* with Liz Longley
