ESTHER ROSE announces new album Want for release on
May 2nd via New West Records
Featuring Dean Johnson and Video Age, Members of The Deslondes, Silver Synthetic and more
Watch the video for new single ‘New Bad’ directed by Anna Marie Tendler HERE
Esther Rose | Photo credit: Char Klein
Esther Rose will release Want on May 2, 2025 via New West Records. The 11-track set was produced by Ross Farbe (of Video Age) and recorded live-to-tape at the Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN. Want is the anticipated follow-up to 2023’s Safe to Run which was met with wide acclaim from The New York Times, Pitchfork, Stereogum, No Depression, and more. The album features appearances by the singer-songwriter Dean Johnson as well as members of Video Age, The Deslondes, and Silver Synthetic. Following the wide-open serenity of Safe to Run, Rose now leans toward confrontational arrangements full of distortion and full-band spontaneity, never sacrificing a classicist’s gift for melody that makes each song instantly memorable. “For me, these songs felt like revelations,” she explains, comparing the record to a memoir, alive with kinetic storytelling and personal insight. Ranging from stark solo performances to grungy blowouts, the album maintains a steady focus while never staying too long in one place. Vivid and bracing, she has made the most adventurous, hardest-hitting record of her career.
Today, Esther Rose shared the video for the first single, ‘New Bad,’ which was directed by the artist and New York Times bestselling author Anna Marie Tendler. Rose says, “This song leaps from the speakers. It’s part grunge, part shoegaze. Working with Anna Marie Tendler was the collaboration I’ve always dreamed of. We sparked an easy, natural rapport out of mutual admiration for each other’s artistry. After I read her book Men Have Called Her Crazy, I sent her a note, saying that my unreleased album and her memoir were apparently spiritual twins. Luckily, she agreed.
Anna Marie Tendler said, “We spent five days, just the two of us, traversing the desert talking and laughing about love, family, our careers, therapy, ketamine, divorce, and music, all while filming a video whose themes and visuals were predicated on the pluralism of self. We also spent a lot of time in comfortable silence watching a golden sun set into an inky sky. On our last day, I thanked Esther for taking this chance on me. She, of course, had access to all my photographs, but there was little in terms of video work to prove my proficiency, let alone talent. I was surprised to learn it wasn’t my visual work, but my memoir, which had gotten me the job. I just knew you would get what I was trying to say, Esther told me.”
Hear ‘New Bad’ on streaming services here and watch the video below.
To reach the new level of confidence presented on Want, the Santa Fe-based Rose had to recalibrate her entire relationship with music. When she concluded the tour for Safe to Run, she considered quitting music altogether, feeling exhausted and depleted, seeing no way to continue at her relentless pace. After quitting drinking and finding new momentum in therapy, she devoted herself to the new material, letting ideas flow without worrying about the final product. She considered making an electro-pop album; a self-titled acoustic record. Eventually, she began categorizing her disparate ideas under the working title The Therapy LP. “There are things that I have tiptoed around in my writing — and in my life — that I wasn’t ready to look at,” she reflects, “and now I’m going for it.” The results are breakthroughs that tether her tightly structured melodies to narratives that bring distressing subject matter down to earth. Like David Bowie, Rose would arrive at the studio in carefully chosen outfits to set the tone for each session, guiding her bandmates to follow the mood.
Want is the overarching theme to the new album. There are 77 mentions of the word throughout (Rose counted them). She’s no numerologist but knows that 7 is lucky and symbolizes completeness. A prime number, there are 7 notes in the diatonic scale, 7 days a week, 7 levels of purgatory, 7 chakras. She says “This record is introspective and internal. In these songs, I examine my thoughts and behavior patterns,” adding, “there are other themes, fear being a big one. I write when I’m scared, and I was scared a lot, sometimes by external situations but mostly by deep-diving into my subconscious. Another theme is accountability. I’m still learning about this one. I believe in the power of music to reveal and heal.” Want is the widest-reaching album of Esther Rose’s career and a panorama of emotions. Describing the euphoria of sharing these intimate stories among trusted collaborators, she says, “Making this album was the most beautiful experience of my life.”
Esther Rose has also announced her initial tour dates in support of Want. She will launch a co-headline tour with Twain tomorrow night in Austin, TX which features stops at Gold Diggers in Los Angeles, The Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville, TN, Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, NY, and more. She will also support Andrew Combs in the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden prior to launching her UK headline dates on May 19 in Glasgow.
Esther Rose 20205 headline UK tour dates
May 19 Glasgow, UK @ Glad Cafe
May 20 Manchester, UK @ The Lodge
May 21 London, UK @ Lexington
Want will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited yellow vinyl edition and limited compact disc both signed by Esther Rose will be available at Independent Retailers. A limited to 200 white vinyl edition autographed by Rose and featuring a yellow flexidisc of the unreleased track ‘Heather’ will be available via Rough Trade. An extremely limited to 250 “Smoke” colour vinyl edition as well as a limited compact disc edition both autographed by Rose is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
Esther Rose – Want album artwork
Esther Rose – Want tracklisting
1. Want
2. tailspin (ft. Video Age)
3. Had To
4. Ketamine
5. Rescue You
6. Scars (ft. Dean Johnson)
7. Messenger
8. New Bad
9. The Clown
10. Color Wheel
11. Want Pt. 2