Greta Van Fleet premiered a pair of new songs earlier this week while performing at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. One of those tracks, “Play Your Games,” has now moved from the stage to streamers, having officially been released by the brotherly rock outfit today (May 29th).
The track is described in a press release as “the first taste of what signals a powerful new age for the band,” and marks their first piece of new music since the release of 2023’s Starcatcher.
In fine Greta fashion, “Play Your Games” is a swaggering, Zep-like bit of classically bluesy riff-rock, vocalist Josh Kiszka power-howling of life on the road, and thanking the world for the “wild ride” that is rock and roll.
It’s added that the song was inspired by one of group’s oldest demos, which they’d discovered after rummaging through their archives. The track “channels the spirit of their earliest days,” while guitarist Jake Kiszka describes the song as being about the “beautiful nature of seizing a moment.”
“Play Your Games” was recorded and co-produced in Tennessee alongside producer Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Turnstile, Sheryl Crow). It’s as-yet unclear when Greta Van Fleet will deliver a follow-up to Starcatcher, or when they will release “Tear It Down,” the other song they premiered at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (May 27th).
Notably, when the band teased the arrival of “Play Your Games” earlier in the spring, via socials posts branded with “Thanks for the wild ride,” many fans had panic-speculated that the band were drawing to a close. Clearly, this is not the case.