The mid-’10s indie-pop revival is in full swing, and Yoke Lore proves it once again with “Shake,” an infectiously upbeat single about eschewing routine in favor of what good may come. The single, released yesterday (June 22) via Yell House Records, follows last month’s “Winona,” a swelling feat that falls closer to the Brooklyn artist’s typical synth-tinged banjo sound.
“Shake,” on the other hand, leans boldly and successfully into the electronic elements that pull on the heartstrings and elicit nostalgia for the previous decade. An intricate synth line dances over a bouncy bass line, while Adrian Galvin — who performs solo under the Yoke Lore moniker — encourages audiences to “get up on your feet and lift your gaze.” The glossy instrumentals and simple-yet-effective lyrics are enough to do the job, sure to get even the most cantankerous listener grooving, perhaps a bit begrudgingly.
The single is just the latest leading up to Yoke Lore’s debut full-length album, Toward a Never Ending New Beginning, due September 22 and also through Yell House. About “Shake,” which he calls “a dedication, a declaration, and a demonstration,” Galvin says that “our bodies and our lives have to be lived in motion. If we stay the same, we fail to grow, we get brittle in the body, we get stubborn in the mind, we go blind in the heart. By embracing the flux inherent in our nature, we can find some harmony. Shake yourself out of the torpor and toward a never ending new beginning.”
Yoke Lore embarks on a tour later this summer in support of Toward a Never Ending New Beginning, including a stop August 20 in Quincy at In Between Days Festival. Get into “Shake” below.