Fred Abong’s muses didn’t flee during the pandemic — if anything, they held his hand through it. As the drab days of 2020 and 2021 dragged on, the Providence artist spent his time spinning the Frank Sinatra classic In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning and self-recording his own take on a timeless “crooner album.” In 2022, he’s emerging on the other side of quarantine with a new album called Yellowthroat and its lead single “Aurora,” which dropped yesterday (May 1).
As its sparse romanticism unwinds, “Aurora” poses a pointed question about mindsets in a time of crisis: Why fall into into a vortex of pandemic dread when you could just fall in love?
“It’s meant to suggest the electricity and charged magic of a new love, as well as to identify the cosmic significance lying behind it,” Abong says of the single. “Of course, none of the lyrics are premeditated or planned; these are just the images that were presenting themselves as I wrote the song. But ‘Aurora’, I hope, both sonically and lyrically captures some of that effervescent excitement and romantic otherworldliness of falling in love.”
While “Aurora” reflects Abong’s environment in lockdown, it also paints a clear picture of his present; the single’s accompanying music video features a cameo from fellow scene veteran Kristin Hersh, Abong’s current tour-mate (and former bandmade in Throwing Muses).
Yellowthroat drops later this year via Disc Drive; in the meantime, get a glimpse at Abong’s expansive “Aurora” below.
***