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Jul 17, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Little Scream

Little Scream (aka Laurel Sprengelmeyer) has announced a new album, Speed Queen, and shared its first single, “Dear Leader,” via a lyric video for the track. Speed Queen is due out October 25 via Merge. Check out “Dear Leader” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Speed Queen is the follow-up to 2016’s Cult Following. The “Dear Leader” lyric video features cameos from The National, Arcade Fire, Superchunk, Holly Miranda, Leif Vollebekk, Mélissa Laveaux, and more.

Sprengelmeyer had this to say about the lyric video in a press release: “This is a lyric video made up largely from crowd-sourced submissions from friends around the world, from São Paulo, Paris, and Barcelona to Des Moines, all shot on a phone. Many artists are pictured, but many are people I encountered while working on the video with documentary filmmaker Shannon Walsh. She and I approached people on the street and heard many interesting stories along the way, from the native man from Bella Bella who told us about being told to ‘go back to where you came from’ (he jumped and replied, ‘I’m here’), to a man paying homage to lost friends at the AIDS memorial at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, to a group of young people returning from a rally to support LGBTQIA rights.

“Much of the protest footage was shot by Shannon herself while in Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement protests of 2014.

“I would like to use the launch of this video to raise awareness about the 1000 Cities initiative-something being spearheaded by musician and environmentalist Becky Foon (pictured in the video) and Jesse Paris Smith. It’s a simple concept with a powerful message: If 1000 cities around the world adopt Paris climate accord standards, the world can still meet its global emissions targets. The idea is not to just sign a petition, but to get involved in supporting and advocating for zero-emissions targets with specific timeline commitments in our own cities and communities. It’s a way of empowering all of us to be part of reversing climate change.”

Speed Queen Tracklist:

01 “Dear Leader”
02 “One Lost Time”
03 “Switchblade”
04 “Disco Ball”
05 “Still Life”
06 “Forces Of Spring”
07 “No More Saturday Night”
08 “Speed Queen”
09 “Don’t Wait For It”
10 “Privileged Child”

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