by Patrick Pilch (@pratprilch)
24 tracks, 24 videos, 24 directors. Rachel Brown’s reliably prolific bedroom pop project is back in fully collaborative fashion. Thanks for Coming’s releases have punctuated life with a diaristic approach, like songwriting in real time, but their latest album is nothing short of deliberate, release schedule and all. Today we’re thrilled to premiere You’re Welcome, the first of four parts from the ultra-meta No Problem, Thanks for Coming’s most anticipated and focused record yet.
In just six tracks, You’re Welcome manages to unpack uncertainty, self-criticism and relationships gone bust through lines of pensive dejection and reframed awareness. Rachel Brown’s incredible sense of timing and cadence allow lyrics to grip onto earworming melodies, sticking with impact on highlight “Friends Forever.” Brilliance slips between a story of unrequited love, as they sing “I know the difference between the things that scare me and the things that I fear.”
With a different director for each video, the six tracks on You’re Welcome take on a visual life of their own. Amrita Singh’s green screen karaoke sets the tone on the self-prodding “Trying,” while Jack Kendrick and Chloe Wallace turn an electrified Brown into a starry-eyed tourist in their own city. Claire Halloran directs “thanksforcoming.bandcamp.com,” a kaleidoscopic screen-capture featuring Gordon Ramsay’s hot ones episode, a glitched game of Google’s t-rex run and Garrett Hill’s coffee slam (classic).
The NYC linchpin has done it again with You’re Welcome. The album is wholly grounded and fearlessly collaborative - DIY culture in its purest form. Rachel Brown remains unpretentious and unabashedly confessional as they begin to transform into one of the most important songwriters right now.
Check out the six-part video for You’re Welcome:
No Problem is out July 19, 2019.