Gal Pal have shared “Pleasures,” the latest single off their forthcoming album This and Other Gestures, available June 2nd. The record is their first in 6 years, and finds the trio of Emelia Austin, Shayna Hahn, and Nico Romero, at the height of their personal and collective power, working through gender dysphoria, personal loss, and the confusion of young adulthood. The three frequently trade off vocal duties, and Romero leads on the deeply personal new single, explaining “My transhood was always about staying alive. What could I do and be in order to see a future for myself. Before testosterone and top surgery, simple pleasures of living, like showers, sleep, intimacy, rest, any reminder of being in a body made me feel sick. One of the first changes I noticed came when I thought, ‘wow I really look like my brothers and my dad.’ These people in my life that have represented different forms of masculinity and access to ‘manhood’, I wondered the most if they saw me, would they see me in their world, as their brother and son. Baseball’s presence in this track is for my dad and our relationship, but it also represents the triumph of winning your fight. At its end, this song is an ode to transness and in that, an ode to staying alive.”

While the songwriting happened in isolation, the recording process for Gestures was collaborative. Touring bassist Cole Brossus and engineers Danny Nogueriras and David Jerkovich helped produce most of the record at Balboa Studios, with additional contributions from Sami Perez (Cherry Glazerr) at her studio Wiggle World. The bandmates swapped instruments frequently, following their natural instincts.

Gal Pal was born out of a serendipitous meeting in college — same dorm, same floor, each member drawn to the other by shared ambition and a desire to play music in a space that felt non-judgemental and generative. Initial collaborations were improvisatory, long-winded and playful in the truest sense. They worked with equipment recently bought, a drum kit no one yet knew how to play. “We were learning our instruments together,” says Romero. “The project started from wanting to learn how to play and write songs with other people.”

Galpal
This And Other Gestures
Tracklist

01 Say No
02 Varsity Star
03 Pleasures
04 Crave
05 Design
06 Mirror
07 Takes Time
08 Think About Your Crush
09 Angel in the Flesh
10 Pure
11 Always There
12 King Mama
13 And The Sun Was Still Hot
14 This and Other Gestures

order “Pleasures” by Gal Pal HERE