Phish has released “Hey Stranger”, the latest single from the foundational jam quartet’s forthcoming 16th studio album, Evolve. The new track follows “Evolve” and “Oblivion” as the third song to arrive from the record, set to arrive via JEMP Records/ATO on Friday, July 12th, 2024.
While many of the newer songs seem to drift between sonic spaces of darkness and light, “Hey Stranger” spends its full runtime in ominous shadows. From the tinge of grit in Trey Anastasio‘s vocal delivery to the oozing, phase-shifting Page McConnell synth segment to Jon Fishman‘s driving drum beat to the way Mike Gordon‘s probing descent into low-end depths propels an aggressive, distorted Anastasio guitar solo, “Hey Stranger” sits firmly within the “evil” portion of the Phish songwriting spectrum.
That’s not to say, however, that the track comes without “light.” Instead, the element of luminosity arrives via its lyrical themes. (“I’ve got music / So, who needs anything more / To extend the time / With invisible weight / Absorbed and unalterable / In delirium / Sightly deceiving / In living light, living light.”)
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Originally stylized with lower-case letters as “hey stranger”, the song first appeared on Anastasio’s 2022 solo acoustic album, mercy. The song then made its way into Trey Anastasio Band live setlists throughout the remainder of 2022 before making its Phish debut at Madison Square Garden on 12/29/22. Phish has performed the track four additional times since then, most recently using its “light”-based subject matter as part of the group’s “plasma”-themed Sphere finale in April.
Listen to “Hey Stranger”, the new single from Phish, via the player below.
Phish – “Hey Stranger”
Many of the Evolve tracks (“Hey Stranger”, “Oblivion”, “Evolve”, “A Wave of Hope”, “Pillow Jets”, “Lonely Trip”, “Life Saving Gun”, “Ether Edge”, “Mercy”) have already made notable showings during live Phish shows. A number of the songs—including “Oblivion”, “Pillow Jets”, “Monsters”, “Ether Edge”, and “Valdese” (previously listed as “Valdise”)—were initially debuted by Trey Anastasio Trio during a summer 2023 weekend run in Denver. Several first appeared on non-Phish releases like mercy (“Hey Stranger”, “Mercy”), January (“Life Saving Gun”), and Lonely Trip (“Lonely Trip”, “A Wave of Hope”, “Evolve”), while one track, “Human Nature”, has yet to appear on any recordings or live setlists. “The Well”, yet another song first revealed by Trey Anastasio Trio in Denver and later incorporated into late-2023 Phish performances, will also be included as a bonus track on vinyl copies of the album. Click below to view the full track listing.
Related: Phish’s Trey Anastasio Sits In With Billy Joel At Madison Square Garden [Photos/Videos]
Phish is set to resume road operations in mid-July for a 2024 summer tour featuring multi-night runs in Mansfield, MA (7/19, 7/20, 7/21), Uncasville, CT (7/23, 7/24), East Troy, WI (7/26, 7/27, 7/28), St. Louis, MO (7/30, 7/31), Noblesville, IN (8/2, 8/3, 8/4), Grand Rapids, MI (8/6, 8/7), Bethel, NY (8/9, 8/10, 8/11), and Commerce City, CO (8/29, 8/30, 8/31, 9/1). The band’s 2024 schedule also includes Mondegreen, Phish’s latest curated festival, due to take place at The Woodlands in Dover, DE from August 15th–18th. For ticketing details and more information, head here.
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