First the big news: drummer Claire Rousay recently officially joined Buttercup. She's been playing with Buttercup and Demitasse off and on for the past 3 years. She was recently featured in the New York Times for her emo-ambient solo work and has garnered glowing reviews from Pitchfork and others. She brings a subtle and hyper-musical approach to the drums that fits beautifully with Buttercup’s emo-optimistic aesthetic.
And more: Buttercup is currently finishing a batch of autobiographical songs tentatively called Specks. During the pandemic, Buttercup, like all of us, had much time to look inward and ask questions about what it means to be alive at this moment in tumultuous history. They found themselves faced with questions about what it means to be a musician. About the importance of self-love. So, they began to write songs as an attempt to answer these pressing questions. They wrote songs about each band member. They wrote about Buttercup’s practice room. There is even a song about Erik Sanden’s voice. Together Specks offers a playful peek inward, a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of a band that has played together for many, many years and still loves each other. Of course, perhaps it’s because the band has such mutual respect in the first place that they’ve been able to continue to thrive.
Finally: Buttercup is also working on a spoken word record featuring chunks of creative non-fiction that Erik Sanden wrote during the longest, loneliest portions of pandemic lockdown. Both the autobiographical recordings and the spoken word record should come soon, perhaps early 2022.
The band will play many of these new songs live for the first time December 9 @ the Pearl in San Antonio, TX.
We've missed you but will see you soon, Joe, Erik, odie., and Claire