Earlier this year, Real Estate announced that a new record, The Main Thing, would be dropping in February. The album, their first since 2017’s In Mind, comes out this Friday, and ahead of then, they have shared the title track.
It’s a brief one at about two-and-a-half minutes, but that’s enough time for some of Real Estate’s signature breezy indie-rock, which wraps up with an energetic psychedelic guitar solo. Martin Courtney says the track came about as the result of him questioning his career choice:
“‘The Main Thing’ is my attempt at writing an inspirational anthem for anyone who’s ever been in an existential crisis… specifically, me.
I was asking myself a lot of uncomfortable questions throughout the process of making this album. Wondering if being an artist is irresponsible or selfish, particularly with the world in the state that it’s in, particularly as a parent of young kids. This was the last song I wrote for this album, and I think it kind of distills where I found myself at the end of what turned out to be a long and extremely rewarding process: psyched on the power of music, for real!
The lyrics in this song are sort of tongue in cheek, but the sentiment is very real. Basically… when life gets tough, when the stresses start piling up, when you start second guessing every decision you’ve made, what do you do? You double down on the thing that makes you happy, the thing that feeds your soul.
It might be corny to say, but it really is important to be true to who you are and do what you believe in, whatever that may be.”
Listen to “The Main Thing” above.
The Main Thing is out 02/28 via Domino. Pre-order it here.
