Karen O, Crush Songs: Stream Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman's new album (AUDIO).

Stream Karen O’s Introspective New Album, Crush Songs

Stream Karen O’s Introspective New Album, Crush Songs

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Slate's Culture Blog
Sept. 5 2014 3:09 PM

Stream Karen O’s Introspective Crush Songs

Karen O
Karen O shows a softer side on Crush Songs.

Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

The two-minute taste we got of Karen O’s new album Crush Songs earlier this summer—the stripped down, dreamy love song “Rapt”—suggested that this project would be a change of pace from her earlier work with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And indeed it is: With songs about heartbreak, longing, and her “ever continuing love crusade,” the album trades some of her earlier edge for quiet introspection.

To say that the production is minimalist is an understatement—most of the songs consist of only vocals and acoustic guitar with a hint of distortion; many of them sound as though they were recorded late at night in her bedroom, after a date gone wrong or an afternoon of daydreaming.

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Crush Songs comes out on Sept. 9, but you can stream the album via NPR's First Listen. And those outside the U.S. can listen via Soundcloud below.