If Beckett originated the absurdity of holding out hope, Anya Marina is here to put it to song. The New York musician shared her latest single “Waiting For a Difference” yesterday (August 22), and while we’ll have to wait to hear the rest of the accompanying album Asteroid — that’s coming October 25 via Good Rope Records — there’s plenty to dive into with the track and accompanying music video.
Pluckily acoustic, “Waiting For a Difference” sounds light and airy, even when its lyrics aren’t; Marina uses the song to grapple with the realization that things might not go according to plan.
“‘Waiting For a Difference’ is a song about hoping against hope for a particular outcome, even though all evidence points to the contrary,” she says. “I recorded this bedroom demo in 2016, recorded it in earnest again in St Louis in 2019, and then re-recorded from the ground up in 2024 in a barn in Woodstock.”
The sound blends the best elements of the last 30 or so years of semi-acoustic indie rock: There’s a distinctive vocal delivery, an up-tempo feel (thanks to that 2024 Woodstock rework of the demos), and enough instrumental quirks to give the result a pleasant flair. There’s even a happy ending to the story; Marina originally wrote the track about yearning for someone she later married.
Marina will be taking “Waiting For a Difference,” and the rest of Asteroid, on the road this fall as she embarks on a genre-blending tour with comedian Nikki Glaser. The duo hit New England in early December with shows in New Hampshire and Vermont.