Xiu Xiu
photo by Julia Brokaw

Xiu Xiu release duets album ft. Sharon Van Etten, Chelsea Wolfe, Grouper, more + new video

Xiu Xiu‘s twelfth album, OH NO, is out today (3/26) via Polyvinyl. An album of duets, it features contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Chelsea Wolfe, Alice Bag, Liz Harris of Grouper, Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux, Owen Pallett, Angus Andrew of Liars, Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, Deb Demure of Drab Majesty, Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, George Lewis Jr. of Twin Shadow and more, and you can stream it in full below.

Also out today with the album is a new video for “Sad Mezcalita,” directed by Xiu Xiu’s Angela Seo, who says that its stark black and white imagery serves as a “tribute to the loss, crime, bleakness, dreams, and tensions” in the song. Sharon Van Etten sings on the gorgeous, dramatic track, and makes an appearance in the video. Watch it below.

“Angela said to me, ‘you never write love songs,’” Jamie Stewart says. “This song tried to do that and failed. To me, it became about how the fear of someone you love being killed or kidnapped or lost in the desert leads to a possessed certainty of those very fates. Wanting and needing and actually feeling love for someone when you know all along that it will end in the worst way imaginable. Sharon seemed like the only person I knew who could pull this conflict off without hesitation. The title is taken from a line in the Otis Redding song ‘I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,’ which is a love song that did not fail in its intent, but is still sad.”