The wait is over, and it’s time to bask in the guitar-hero glory of MJ Lenderman—the North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and musician—who on Friday, September 6th, shares his fourth full-length album, Manning Fireworks, released via ANTI Records. He’s already shared the LPs ‘Rudolph‘, ‘She’s Leaving You‘, and ‘Joker Lips‘, with his latest single, ‘Wristwatch,’ joining the impressive selection just yesterday, ahead of the album release.
Following in the footsteps of the “Slacker anthem of the summer” (The FADER) ‘She’s Leaving You’ and the “Manning Fireworks thesis statement” (UPROXX) ‘Joker Lips’, ‘Wristwatch’ sees Lenderman again provide us with a world-weary story that straddles the line between humour and sadness, as he sings of someone that’s too proud of what they have to be humble about what they’ve forsaken. “I’ve got a beach home up in Buffalo / and a wristwatch that’s a compass and a cell phone,” Lenderman deadpans, before eventually realising it’s just “a wristwatch that tells me / I’m on my own”
Recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios and co-produced with frequent collaborator Alex Farrar, Manning Fireworks is an instant classic of an LP and a remarkable development in Lenderman’s story as an incisive singer songwriter, whose propensity for humour always points to some uneasy, disorientating darkness. The punchlines from his previous albums are still here, as are the rusted-wire guitar solos that have made him a favourite for indie-rock fans looking for an emerging guitar hero. Executed with a precision and care that make his songs feel like short films, Lenderman simply offers everyday anxieties and enthusiasms in uncanny ways.
If we flashback to 2021, no one paid too much attention when Jake Lenderman recorded Boat Songs, his third album released under his initials, MJ Lenderman. Before he cut it, after all, he was a 20-year-old guitarist working at an ice cream shop in his mountain hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, getting away for self-booked tours of his own songs or with the band he’d recently joined, Wednesday, whenever possible.
But as the pandemic took hold just as he turned 21, Lenderman—then making more money through state unemployment than he had ever serving scoops—enjoyed the sudden luxury of free time. Every day, he would read, paint, and write; every night, he and his roommates, bandmates, and best friends would drink and jam in their catawampus rental home, singing whatever came to mind over their collective racket. Some of those lines stuck around the next morning, slowly becoming 2021’s self-made Ghost of Your Guitar Solo and then 2022’s Boat Songs. With its barbed little jokes, canny sports references, and gloriously ragged guitar solos, Boat Songs became one of that year’s biggest breakthroughs, a ramshackle set of charms and chuckles. Much the same happened for Wednesday. Suddenly, people were paying a lot of attention to what Jake Lenderman might make next.
The answer is Manning Fireworks, recorded at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios during multiple four-day stints whenever Lenderman had a break from the road. Co-produced with frequent collaborator Alex Farrar, Lenderman plays nearly every instrument here. It is not only his fourth full-length and studio debut for ANTI-, but also a remarkable development in his story as an incredibly incisive singer-songwriter, whose propensity for humor always points to some uneasy, disorienting darkness. He wrote and made it with full awareness of the gaze Boat Songs had generated, how people now expected something great. Rather than wither, however, Lenderman used that pressure to ask himself what kind of musician he wanted to be—the funny cynic in the corner forever ready with a riposte or barbed bon mot, or one who could sort through his sea of cultural jetsam and one-liners to say something real about himself and his world, to figure out how he fits into all this mess. He chose the latter.
There are feelings of self-doubt, world weariness, and worry present here, but the conditions are rendered with a clarity and care that make his songs feel like short films. However, none of this is esoteric or obscure, Lenderman simply offers everyday anxieties and enthusiasms in uncanny ways. There is an abiding sadness to Manning Fireworks, but it feels friendly and familiar, the kind of troubles you’ve always known.
Lenderman is still sorting through the kinds of songs he wants to write and remembering they can go anywhere he wants—much like they did back at those late-night house jams, no matter who is now looking.
Early Praise for Manning Fireworks
“On ‘She’s Leaving You,’ Lenderman has never made failure sound so good…Cap it off with acoarse, Crazy Horse–esque guitar solo and you’ve got a winner of a song.”
—Vulture,The Best Songs of 2024 (So Far)
“Lenderman’s off-kilter observations are enveloped in a haze of melancholy, but there’s acomforting, wool-blanket warmth to the tone of his guitar and the broken croak of his voice.”
— New York Times
“Lenderman knows what a damn good riff sounds like and has no problem churning them out with confidence.” – The Line of Best Fit
MANNING FIREWORKS
LISTEN/PURCHASE
MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks Tracklising
01. Manning Fireworks
02. Joker Lips
03. Rudolph
04. Wristwatch
05. She’s Leaving You
06. Rip Torn
07. You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In
08. On My Knees
09. Bark At The Moon
