Last year, La Dispute‘s Panorama came in at No. 2 on the Uproxx list of best indie albums, and if that isn’t a strong enough cosign to get you to listen to the Michigan band, I don’t know what is. Well, maybe two new songs from the rock band that combines jazz, spoken word, and post-hardcore all into one roiling, beautiful mess. Last night, La Dispute leaned into the spoken word aspect of their creative work, dropping two new tracks via Bandcamp.
Originally, the songs were part of the band’s Patreon, but they’re donating any Bandcamp profits from Christmas Day to charity. The organization’s they’re supporting are Rent Party Detroit and Detroit Community Wealth Fund.
Back to the songs, “Fifteen” and “Kinross” are both slower tempo, eerie songs that reflect some of the uncertainty and chaos that 2020 held for everyone, and particularly for bands and music industry professionals who rely almost completely on touring to support themselves. Vocalist Jordan Dreyer has never been one to shy away from difficult subjects like guilty, and particularly on “Kinross” that subject comes into play. For now, there’s not much that small, independent bands like La Dispute can do but wait to see when shows might be possible again. So, if you can, support them and the charity’s they’ve designated for today.