Casey Dienel (fka White Hinterland) announces first album in almost a decade, My Heart is an Outlaw

1 month ago 8

The announcement is accompanied by the release of lead single "Your Girl’s Upstairs" which comes with a video directed by Alex Basco-Koch, including behind the scenes footage of the album recording.

"I’m not a domesticated creature. During lockdown, I was cruising the apps. Overnight, it felt like everyone was ENM or poly or GGG, but still playing out the most toxic hetero main character storylines. We grow up thinking marriage will insulate us from loneliness or risk, but it’s independence that’s given me a sense of inner stability," Casey Dienel says of the track. "Ultimately, I hate living with people, but I like loving on them. What’s a horny dad to do? These unreconciled contradictions inside duel it out, but none win. I am all of them: an incorrigible flirt, a romantic, a cranky homebody, and an unapologetic perv."

The record was brought to life with producer Adam Schatz (Japanese Breakfast, Neko Case), bassist Spencer Zahn, guitarists Carly Bond (Meernaa) and meg duffy (Hand Habits), drummer Max Jaffe, mixing engineer Jake Aron (Solange, Snail Mail), and mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Björk, Sade). Breaking from their usual DIY approach, Dienel embraced the power of the collective — an experiment in trust, connection, and openness.

Tonally influenced by My Own Private Idaho and widescreen pop, such as Born in the U.S.A., the new album, My Heart is an Outlaw, is an exploration. Can we love fully without being domesticated? Can we resist cultural scripts by choosing presence and community over self-erasure? As they put it, "The heart has a mind of its own…It’s the thing holding you back that you have to set free on your own time, in your own way."

Tracklist: