Hiss Golden Messenger the eclectic Durham, North Carolina, Americana outfit have released the new song Happy Birthday, Baby a month before the release of their seventh studio album, Terms of Surrender.
The groups leader and creative mastermind M.C. Taylor wrote the track, which features a nursery rhyme-like counting chorus, for his daughters fifth birthday.
Its mostly a love letter to her, part apology, part plea for forgiveness, and part recounting of the day she was born, when all the roads boiled over with rainwater and thunder and lightning filled the air, the singer-songwriter says of the lyrics. There are also many secret things in this song that only my family knows about.
Happy Birthday, Baby also serves as a confessional, with Taylor transforming the sweet song for his daughter into a somber occasion to reflect on his own feelings of guilt and regret. When you think of me, he sings to his child, think of me better than I think of myself.
Terms of Surrenderis out September 20th. In June, Hiss Golden Messenger released the LPs lead single I Need a Teacher, followed by Cats Eye Blue last month. The band will launch an extensive fall tour on September 24th in Greenville, South Carolina.