Washington, DC-based singer, songwriter, and producer Bartees Strange has shared two new songs as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club. Listen to “Tisched Off” and “Keekee’in” below via Strange’s Bandcamp.

“Keekee’in” (which features Daniel Kleederman) and “Tisched Off” are Strange’s first original tracks since he issued his sophomore album Farm to Table last year. More recently, the artist dropped a cover of “Gang Signs,” originally by Freddie Gibbs and Schoolboy Q.

Strange explained the origin of his newly-released singles in a press release, saying that “Keekee’in” emerged during a period of quarantining while he was sick. “This song is extremely special to me,” he wrote. “During our tour with Car Seat Headrest the band had Covid. I was bunkered down with my guitarist Dan at his family’s house in the basement. I figured it would be cool to write something using only the tools we had. All of the instrumentation was done with stuff from that room. Matchsticks, pillows for drums, very random keyboards, etc. I wrote this song to get some feelings out I had about some business people I was considering working with—they ended up being shady and I was feeling very betrayed. I was thinking about how valuable it is to have people you can really trust. And how few those people are.”

Of the track “Tisched Off,” Strange added: “As an up and coming musician, there’s a very special pain that comes with realizing a huge chunk of the artists you’re competing with have way more money and resources than you. This song takes little digs at them. It’s cute. Tisch is like the fashion school at NYU. When I was living in BK I ran into a bunch of young punk bands and experimental acts that rose quickly from that school. I remember feeling like damn—how do you compete with people like that? They’ve got some very real resources. Anywho—it’s just me making fun.”
 
Revisit Pitchfork’s 2022 profile “He’s Just Bartees Strange, Baby.”