Turnstile vocalist Brendan Yates has hopped onto the latest single from venerable emo purveyors American Football. While the crossover will surely stir up the feels, the collaborative track — from the band’s forthcoming LP4 — is called “No Feeling.”
A press release explains that Yates’ was — ahem — never meant to sit so prominently in the mix, but once Turnstile’s frontman hit the mic, American Football vocalist-guitarist Mike Kinsella knew they had to redraw the play.
“Brendan came into the studio to sing along to a ‘gang vocal’ call-and-response part I’d written for the chorus of ‘No Feeling,’” Kinsella explained in a statement. “I had imagined his voice would be one of many voices scream-singing it, and was excited for it to be a sort of Easter Egg on the album. But after tracking the original parts, he asked if he could try a higher harmony that he was hearing.
“As soon as he started singing it, all of our jaws dropped, and we all were looking at each other like ‘Oh shit! THAT’S the dude from Turnstile!’ His voice is so singular, and once he sang the part in his range, it was clear that the part now belonged to him and him alone.”
The song — which you can check out up above, via the lushly delivered animated music video from directors Cady Buche and Travis Barron of Unlimited Time Only — interweaves Kinsella and Yates’ vocal performances with elaborate emo guitar texturing, wavy synth palettes and more.
Thematically, American Football’s LP4 is said to have the act contemplating “life’s harshest realities,” while “reflecting on the disorientation, compromise, grief, and hard-won perspective of middle age.” The album, their first since 2019, was produced by Sonny DiPerri (Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine) and features additional contributions from Wisp, Rainer Maria’s Caithlin De Marrais and more.
American Football (LP4) is out May 1 via Polyvinyl Records and can be pre-ordered here.
The band launch a West Coast tour in May, then hit Europe in June, and then resume North American touring by July. You’ll find the show details here.