Today, Glasgow-based indie pop duo Sacred Paws reveal details of their new album Run Around the Sun, the follow-up to their debut Strike a Match and first for Merge in North America, out May 31 (Rock Action for rest of world). Watch the music video for Run Around the Sun’s explosive opening track “The Conversation” and pre-order the album on CD, LP, and limited-edition translucent green Peak Vinyl in the Merge store, or wherever records are sold.

Beginning with a scream of guitar, “The Conversation” includes all the hallmarks of a classic Sacred Paws song—where intricate guitar work and complex drumming collide with pop smarts and the dual vocals of Rachel Aggs and Eilidh Rodgers. The track was written about a long-forgotten argument between friends, composed in the band’s traditional unplanned approach, each member’s thoughts and feelings slaloming through the other’s. “You’re all wrong, you’re walking away / Why would we even try to have this conversation?” the song asks before resolving to move on: “I’m running, I’m hiding out, resisting / I’m keeping this to myself….” The argument that inspired it is long forgotten but the feelings remain.

Elsewhere, the album brims with upbeat reflections on growing up and looking back. Shimmering guitar riffs dance between snappy beats and swooning melodies that will have crowds committing to far more than a simple head-bob. “I think we’d get bored if it was too slow,” Eilidh says. “We’d never want to play something live that people couldn’t dance to. It would feel really strange to us. It’s kind of the whole point.”

The first iteration of Sacred Paws was a long-distance affair, with Eilidh in Glasgow and Rachel in South London. They’d meet up periodically to write songs, and Strike a Match was “all the songs that we happened to have, put on an album,” says Rachel. She recently moved from London to Glasgow and though it made little difference to the scrapbook approach Sacred Paws have to creating music, Run Around the Sun fizzes with a renewed sense of urgency, with bigger hooks and choruses and an even more varied sonic palette.

Catch up with Sacred Paws with the previously shared single “Brush Your Hair,” an infectiously fun listen that’s also included on Run Around the Sun. Sacred Paws will announce tours in Europe and North America soon, so stay tuned for more!

Sacred Paws on tour:
July 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle (MRG30)