It's Dangerous To Go Alone Cover Art (By Pam Wishbow)
Jenny Owen Youngs is proud to announce the forthcoming EP It’s Dangerous To Go Alone, due out June 10th, 2022. It’s Dangerous To Go Alone features songs inspired by some of Youngs’ favorite gaming pursuits from childhood to present day. She mines memories of late nights exploring the ancient lands of Hyrule in search of The Master Sword, and lazy afternoons spent rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser’s grip. Aside from the allusions just made to Zelda and Super Mario Bros, the two other songs on the EP draw upon Skyrim of The Elder Scrolls series and one of the most classic video games of all time, Pac-Man. The latter forms the foundation for the first single “Ghosts”, out today. Cover art for the EP and singles was created by the artist Pam Wishbow (instagram.com/pamwishbow). Jenny Owen Youngs hits the road this month for select west-coast tour dates with Hrishikesh Hirway (upcoming dates below).
“While plumbing the emotional depths of games that cover four decades,” says Youngs, “I found myself threading out themes and ideas that occupy the hearts and minds of most humans I’ve known, myself included: love, devotion, dealing with failure, finding the fortitude to start over, seeking to understand the interior nature of the self, trying to be and do good in an evil world.”
“Yes, it’s about a video game,” shares Youngs, “but it’s also about connectivity and isolation within the context of an intimate relationship. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are (so far as we know) in a committed relationship, but they are doomed to live alone, confined to separate arcade cabinets. It has been suggested (and I’m inclined to agree) that love is the purpose of life, and the act of truly loving someone is the most difficult and most rewarding adventure that a person can undertake. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are an echo of this idea, each engaged in their individual struggle of life and death, holding firmly to the thin hope that every round won brings them closer to peace, and closer to each other.”
Examining the lyrics to “Ghosts” lends itself to the realization that modern life may have more in common with our favorite little yellow arcade game hero than is pleasant to ponder. “Wake up and I’m starting over… Back into the fray again,” sings Youngs as she highlights a repetitive and medicated day to day existence, “swallowing pills so long / Just trying to feel less wrong” and “Grabbing everything in sight / Hate it but I can’t stop reaching / For something better, burning bright”. The song, which was produced with Ty Demo and features co-writer Hirway (The One AM Radio, Song Exploder), clips along to a propulsive beat mirroring Pac-Man’s gameplay, which punishes players for standing still and keeps them on the move lest the ghosts catch up to them. This Friday, May 6th at 6:00 pm EDT Youngs and Hirway will chat live on twitch.tv/jennyowenyoungs about the new single, and will also take time to answer viewer questions.
Jenny Owen Youngs spent 2021 writing and playing in the band L.A. Exes, and earlier in the year released the “soft and meditative and warm” (Stereogum) Echo Mountain EP. The singer, songwriter, and natural history enthusiast grew up in the forests of northern New Jersey and is now based in Maine. Jenny Owen Youngs has released three albums and a handful of EPs, both independently and via Nettwerk Records, and her songs have been heard on Bojack Horseman, Weeds, Grey’s Anatomy, Suburgatory, and more. Her work has been praised by The New York Times, Stereogum, Vice, NPR Music, The Washington Post and more.
Stay tuned for more from It’s Dangerous To Go Alone in the coming weeks.
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