Gentle Leader XIV – “Me & My Baby” (premiere)

Chicago three-piece Gentle Leader XIV features spouses Maria Jenkins from Hollows and Jeffrey Tucholski from Running, along with their pal and collaborator Lisa McDuffie. Channels, their debut album, will be released by Moniker Records on 20 April. Waiting for spring to arrive with its frost-kissed heart stapled to its sleeve, “Me & My Baby” is the first track to be released from the record. The song’s sweet spareness captures the loneliness of 1960s girl group longing, makes it even more pronounced with slowed down surf echo, and ties it all together with a high slung Hooky-style bass line and minimal percussion that taps like an anxious finger against a phone that just won’t ring.