[as seen on Consequence of Sound]

Back in April, noisy art-rockers Melkbelly put out their acclaimed sophomore album PITH. Today, the band’s guitarist and vocalist Miranda Winters has returned, this time with a solo offering of her own called “Little Baby Dead Bird”.

With the exception of a one-off track on last year’s Post-Trash compilation, this is the first new material Winters has released under her own name since her 2018 debut Xobeci, What Grows Here?. Her style, unlike the knotty and thrashing output of former Artist of the Month Melkbelly, is decidedly sparser and more mellow, though no less colorful.

The backbone of “Little Baby Dead Bird” consists of a cautious bassline and Winters’ bashful chirp, but those quietly intense elements are buttressed by supple string strokes by fellow Chicago musician Joe Starita. Winters also enlisted Nic Gohl from the Windy City band Deeper to join her on backing vocals, and his vocals provide some extra texture and a bleary layering effect within the mix. Take a listen below.

“Little Baby Dead Bird” serves as the B-side to a forthcoming single titled “Double Mirror Light”, and both are notably the first tracks Winters wrote since giving birth to a daughter last year. The two reference the life-changing experience of becoming a parent, but “Little Baby Dead Bird” also takes a darker look into the concept of mortality.

“This song is about life and death,” Winters commented on the track in a statement. “Anticipating both and not understanding either. It was written as a plea to two different people who, at the time, existed on either side of our realm. The before life side and the after life side.”

The two singles will be collected on a 7-inch that’s due out October 2nd via Exploding In Sound Records. Pre-orders are available now.