The U.S. midterm elections are approaching—and so is Midterms, Tod Lippy’s new EP that reckons with the collective dread inspired by the current socio-political climate. Let’s face it, there’s plenty to worry about: an endless pandemic, accelerated global warming, normalized extremism, off-the-rails social media, hyper-polarization, etc. Midterms, Lippy’s third release following the acclaimed LPs Here We Are (2019) and Yearbook (2021), takes square aim at all of the above in six powerful songs that demonstrate the artist’s continuing evolution as a composer and lyricist.

 

The EP’s first single, “Bob,” will be released on June 17^th on all digital platforms along with an accompanying music video directed by filmmaker Brian Padian.

 

In Lippy’s own words, “Bob” is “deliberately vague, in an attempt to turn one person’s bad decision to say or do something unfortunate into a universal statement about poor choices and the shame and judgment following in their wake.”

 

This mesmeric, meditative tune transforms a searing moment of regret into musical expression, its truncated ending leaving listeners plenty of room to fill in the blanks with their own experiences. ‘Bob’ demonstrates Lippy’s thoughtful songwriting, but it also stands apart from the more analytical tracks—whose subject matter ranges from toxic TV personalities to armchair activism—that make up the rest of the Midterms EP.

 

The single is accompanied by a video from Portland-Based filmmaker Brian Padian, best known for his Amazon Prime series ‘Microaggressions’.

 

For “Bob”, Padian revisited black-and-white Super-8 footage shot more than 20 years ago – including a roll of exposed film he found in his toolbox he’d never developed. It includes a man at a house party hosted by leering ‘friends’, shots of him running alone in the woods, and disorienting in-camera visual effects, edited by Padian to evoke the sense of dread the song conveys. What happened at the party? What is the guy running away from? Why are the others mocking him? This could easily slot into an episode of the cerebral TV show ‘Severance’.

 

Midterms will drop digitally on July 15, and a lathe-cut 10” vinyl version will be out in August. All 60 copies of the limited edition will feature original hand-painted covers by celebrated artist Steve Keene, the creator of iconic covers for Pavement, Cat Power, and The Shins, among others.

 

For more information visit: www.todlippymusic.com or contact jamie@cannonballpr.com / seb@cannonballpr.com / +447871917774