"We’ve always had this really jammy, high-energy live show compared to some of our records. We all love to dance. We didn’t want to take away from the emotion or the core feeling of what our band is all about—which I don’t even think we could take out if we wanted, because it is who we are—but we wanted to bump the speed up and have a little bit more fun," Warpaint vocalist and guitarist Emily Kokal explained within a statement concerning their self-titled album follow-up, Heads Up. Since releasing critically-acclaimed Warpaint (2014), Jenny Lee Lindberg quietly released a 2015 solo album right on!, as jennylee; Theresa Wayman issued material as BOSS on producer Mr. Dan's Speedy Wunderground imprint; drummer Stella Mozgawa played on Kurt Vile's 2015 efforts, b'lieve i'm goin down... and Spotify Sessions EP; Kokal worked alongside NIN affiliate Saul Williams on his politically-charged "Burundi," as well as "Wishing Song" recorded with Paul Bergmann. While we're on the topic of off-kilter collaborations: Run The Jewels rapper-producer and apparent Warpaint super-fan El-P contributed a staggering pseudo-12" remix of "Disco//Very" B-side, "Keep It Healthy."


Jenny Lee Lindberg described Heads Up as "[sounding] like a mature version of Warpaint," while Consequence of Sound referred to the album as "an eclectic collection" drawing stylistic influence from Björk, Janet Jackson, Kendrick Lamar, and OutKast. Monday morning, amidst rumblings of Frank Ocean's mythical Cure-referencing Boys Don't Cry, Warpaint unveiled their latest "New Song" ahead of Heads Up, which will be released in a number of formats on Rough Trade Records this upcoming September 23rd; with that said, I would liken Warpaint's aptly-titled "New Song" to the sugary sweet brand of Indie-Pop Rock produced by family band HAIM, whose trademark lush three-part vocal harmonies are evocative of Warpaint's often musical revolving door of 2-4-part vocal harmonies. "I feel really proud of what we made—almost surprised and shocked. When we were making it, I was like, "I wonder what this is going to sound like? How’s this going to come together?" I love the way that it came together so nicely," Lindberg gushed about the group's long-awaited Jacob Bercovici-produced Heads Up.