Horsegirl Reveal New Album Coming in 2025

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Cate Le Bon produced Phonetics On and On at Wilco's Loft in Chicago. It's due out Feb. 14 on Matador Records

Horsegirl are riding back into town in 2025. The indie trio announced today that their second LP, Phonetics On and On, will be released on Feb. 14, 2025, via Matador Records. This is terrific news for anyone who likes unusual guitar tones and sneakily catchy DIY songcraft.

Formed when singer-guitarists Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng and drummer Gigi Reece were all in their teens, Horsegirl quickly emerged as one of the most notable acts in a thriving Chicago underground that also includes bands like Lifeguard, Friko, and Twin Coast. Their debut LP, Versions of Modern Performance, won rave reviews on its release in 2022.

Horsegirl’s members moved to New York shortly after that, but they went home to Chicago to record Phonetics On and On at the Loft, the studio owned by their past tourmates Wilco. They were joined there by a producer who knows that space well: Welsh singer-songwriter and studio savant Cate Le Bon, who also produced Wilco’s most recent album.

Lead single “2468” exemplifies the kind of subtly layered rock sounds that Horsegirl excel at, with a keening violin intro that gives way to a bright, jaunty counting refrain. If you find yourself thinking about the Velvet Underground, the Raincoats, or Yo La Tengo, you won’t be far off (and if those reference points sound like good things to you, you should probably listen to “2468” right away).

Last summer, at a show in New York’s Central Park with Lifeguard, Water From Your Eyes, and Iceage, Horsegirl previewed some of the new material they’d been writing for a large crowd. “We didn’t write these songs thinking they would be played on a festival stage,” Lowenstein said then. “It’s a crazy thing to translate. But we figured it out.”

The band has also announced a short tour planned for early next year, beginning with an album-release show in Chicago on Feb. 22 and wrapping up a month later in Brooklyn. Chicago folk musician Free Range will open all the dates except for the release show, where Horsegirl will be joined by Lifeguard and Answering Machines.