Sam Leidig is weird and wonderful on ‘Default Settings’

Every weekday, DIY’s new music know-it-all Neu brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. Today’s Neu Pick comes from Sam Leidig.

The surrounding environment and context will always affect the way an album is written, but few if any will have a story like Sam Leidig’s.

The singer formerly known as SMLH wrote his debut mini-album while recovering from reconstructive collarbone surgery in Chapel Hill, NC, with a head full of meds. The record, then, is predictably titled ‘Collarbone’.

We’ve got the first play of its lead single ‘Default Settings’ as today’s Neu Pick, and it’s a weird and wonderful beast. At its heart, Leidig’s music leans closest towards lo-fi indie-rock, but all manner of striking, jaggedy sounds are thrown into the mix to make something far more eclectic.

By the track’s conclusion, it rattles along with the help of skittish percussion and razor-sharp guitars, and feels unstoppable.

‘Collarbone’ comes out on cassette via Babe City Records on 1st September. Pre-order it here and listen to ‘Default Settings’ below.