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Feb 02, 2024 By Caleb Campbell

Later this month, Massachusetts indie folk outfit Cloudbelly is set to release their upcoming sophomore album, i know, i know, i know, arriving February 23rd. The band returned last year, following their debut with a pair of new singles, “November” and “If You Want,” and today they’re back with another new track, “Handfuls,” premiering with Under the Radar.

As the band describes, “[frontperson Corey Laitman] wrote the bulk of these songs in the aftermath of the consecutive, tightly-timed implosion of two formative relationships. The album is - among other things - a document of their sincere effort to grieve; to remember; to take stock; to get angry; to forgive; and to reconcile the painful necessity of those relationships coming to an end.

The album’s title points to that knife’s edge divide, between the understanding of the way things are, and the seeming impossibility of embracing it. i know i know i know––acceptance and hesitation packaged in a single turn of phrase. It’s about confronting the fact that when it comes to healing and recovery, we are both the poison and the medicine. It’s about being present with the parts of ourselves that are in pain.”

In embracing the record’s emotive side, the album also sees Laitman, guitarist Sam Perry, and drummer Nate Mondschein filling out their sound with sweeping strings and arrangements, incorporating a cinematic scale into the tracks. That element is fully at play with “Handfuls,” which adopts more lush and organic instrumentation than last year’s singles. It opens amidst atmospheric production, simmering acoustic tones, and hints of strings pulling at the song’s edges, all swirling around Laitman’s vocals. The song begins shadowed, but steadily unfurls to dramatic heights, ascending amidst stately drums and soaring backing vocals.

Meanwhile, the band says of the track, “‘Handfuls’ is one of Cloudbelly’s darker excursions, cyclical and meditative as it mourns a freshly broken connection. The song builds from a sparse opening to a lush, percussive climax featuring strings from Cynthia Tolson (MUNA).”

Check out the song below. i know, i know, i know is out February 23rd via Strange Library.