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    You are at:Home » SEE: Will Butler + Sisters Square – “Long Grass” + Album Out 9/22
    New Music

    SEE: Will Butler + Sisters Square – “Long Grass” + Album Out 9/22

    By Chris RyanAugust 10, 2023005 Mins Read
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    Will butler, sisters square, long grass, indie rock, alternative rock
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    Will butler, sisters square, long grass, indie rock, alternative rock

    Will Butler + Sister Squares – ‘Will Butler + Sister Squares’
    out Sept. 22 on Merge

    We’ve gotten a taste of what’s to come and let me tell you that you are in for a surprise. Will Butler + Sisters have created a magnum opus on their self-titled anlbum and this is going to leave you craving MORE! Read more below and check out “Long Grass” at the bottom.

    Sara Dobbs and Jenny Shore used to work summer stock theater in St. Louis, Missouri. They’d do the hand jive with TV stars past and future; they’d get coldly corrected by the ancient, legendary choreographer Gemze de Lappe. Sara went on to Broadway, including a run as Anybodys in West Side Story. Jenny went on to choreograph in the independent dance scene of early 2000s Chicago.

    Julie Shore is Jenny’s sister. She’s always made music—playing Chopin, writing songs, making bands with her friends. She’s had the archetypal Millennial journey of entering adulthood in the ’08 financial crisis and figuring out what stupid series of jobs you have to take to pay rent while keeping an artistic life alive.

    Miles Francis grew up in New York City with Backstreet Boys posters covering their walls. An extraordinary drummer since youth, Miles thrives in collaboration—whether producing artists in their West Village studio, performing with artists like Angelique Kidjo, or powering protests with a big marching drum.

    These four—Miles, Julie, Jenny, and Sara—are Sister Squares. What made them a musical unit was working with Grammy winner and Oscar nominee Will Butler. They’ve all just finished a new record together: Will Butler + Sister Squares.

    “I met Jenny—my wife!—in college, the year before I joined Arcade Fire. She was a choreographer; my roommate was a dancer. He convinced me to come to an audition, though I had never taken dance. Jenny was impressed—but she didn’t cast me,” says Will. They went on to collaborate on a series of shows: Will (and friends) providing music, Jenny (and friends) providing dance. They married in 2007.

    “When I needed a band to tour Policy [Merge, 2015], I asked Julie to join because I trusted her musically. And I asked Sara, Jenny and Julie’s childhood friend, because I knew she was super talented,” says Will.

    “Antibalas (who I was drumming for) opened some Arcade Fire shows,” says Miles. “I was captivated by Will’s performing. He was creating all these micro DIY performance-art moments within a massive arena show, and I wanted to know everything about it.” Miles offered to play drums anytime Will needed.

    Will, Julie, Sara, and Miles jelled on tour. Julie and Sara showed Miles how to do eye makeup backstage; everyone worked on vocal arrangements. All along, Jenny contributed to recordings and general performance ideas, and she joined onstage in 2019.
    * * *

    “After Generations [Merge, 2020], I considered making a weird solo record. Me alone in the basement, etc., etc. Mostly I realized that what I wanted was the opposite,” says Will. He increasingly turned to the band for feedback on lyrics and song structures. He asked Miles if they’d produce the record.

    “Will and I organically discovered our relationship as a production duo through making this album. We didn’t have to talk too much about things as they happened, because the music just flowed,” says Miles. “As a producer, working with Jenny, Julie, and Sara is the dream. They connect so innately. In one motion they can conjure a mood, or get at the root of a feeling.”

    The band played a run of shows in August 2022, airing out studio ideas in live rooms. After coming home, the band regrouped at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn.

    “I could tell from the physical energy that it was going to be good. We were dancing during takes, taking cues from each other. At one point, Sara and I had our tap shoes on,” says Jenny. The album, broadly, is equal parts from Figure 8, group experiments from Will’s basement, and sessions in Miles’ Synthia Studio.

    “I had quit my band Arcade Fire very recently, after 20 years—maybe the most complex decision of my life. I had spent the preceding two years at home with my three children. I was 39 years old. I was waking up every morning and reading Emily Dickinson, until I had read every Emily Dickinson poem. I was listening to Morrissey, to Shostakovich, to the Spotify top 50. I had unformed questions with inchoate answers,” says Will. “But, honestly, I was feeling great about the record.”

    The album projects widescreen emotional landscapes. Lead-off single “Long Grass” is like a Harry Styles song with 20 more years of life behind it. Standout track “Saturday Night” has a beat, according to Miles, “with that robot-alien-dancing-at-a-haunted-dive-bar feeling that we were going for.” The back half of the album is a danceable, weird choral record with harmonies both beautiful and dissonant. Closing song “The Window” is the comedown after the party—Julie playing a Chopin Nocturne on a three-years-out-of-tune piano, slowed to half-speed on tape with Will singing over it in a voice exactly as tired as he was. It’s a record with a warm, humane soul.

    Miles, on a moment of synchronicity captured to tape: “It came out uniquely ours, a tiny bespoke musical bloom that can never be exactly reproduced. Those kinds of moments between all of us are embedded all over this album.”

    Check out: “Long Grass” below

    alternative rock indie rock long grass Will butler + sisters square
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    Chris Ryan
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    Chris Ryan is the founder and visionary behind AudioFuzz.com, a destination for cutting-edge music discovery and cultural commentary. With a deep-rooted passion for music, community, and connection, Chris brings a rare blend of experience across the worlds of nightlife, activism, mental health, and media.Before launching AudioFuzz, Chris made his mark as one of New York City’s premier nightlife producers, curating some of the city’s most iconic events. Known for turning parties into immersive cultural experiences, his work was recognized by the Mayor of New York City, who awarded him for his contributions to activism and for fostering unity and visibility through nightlife. His events received multiple accolades for creativity, inclusivity, and social impact — always with a focus on bringing diverse communities together under one roof.Chris also produced SHINEOUT, the first-ever LGBT music festival, a groundbreaking celebration of queer artistry and music that set a new precedent in the industry.Driven by a lifelong desire to understand and support others, Chris pivoted to mental health, earning two master’s degrees and becoming a licensed psychotherapist. His clinical work reflects the same values that defined his nightlife career: empathy, authenticity, and the power of human connection.A global citizen and avid traveler, Chris has explored over 70 countries, using his journeys to inform the eclectic, international lens that defines AudioFuzz. From the underground clubs of Berlin to street performances in Bangkok, his firsthand experiences with music across cultures continue to fuel the site’s unique voice.Through AudioFuzz.com, Chris Ryan continues to celebrate the power of music to inspire, heal, and unite — curating a platform where queer voices, experimental sounds, and boundary-pushing artists take center stage.

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