Johanna Samuels pays homage to the Weezer debate, today sharing the new single and video, “Blue vs. Pinkerton”. The track is off her forthcoming album, Sorry, Kid, available August 14 via Odd Man Out Recordings and Jealous Butcher. The track follows previous singles “White Limousine” (feat. Courtney Marie Andrews), “Two People and the Moon” and “Circles” (feat. Tyler Ballgame).

Recorded to tape and produced by Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, Father John Misty, The Killers), the warm, sepia-toned tracks of Sorry, Kid features Samuels’s friends from the LA music community: Madison Cunningham, Courtney Marie Andrews, Tyler Ballgame & many more.

Leaning into the alternative rock of its title inspirations, “Blue vs. Pinkerton” was written in response to a songwriting prompt asking to paint a visceral experience of a specific time and place.

“I chose my sophomore and junior year of high school,” shares Samuels. “I sat and reflected on the through line for me during that time… of course there were crushes and friends and my first cigarettes but what connected me most to myself and to my community was the music that I loved. I love songs about music.

I thought about Weezer and how much I loved them. I found out about them when a boy I liked asked if I was a Pinkerton girl or a Blue Album girl and I pretended I knew what he was talking about. What he ended up turning me onto impacted me way more than the crush. I’ve oscillated between the two records during different periods of my life and have even dabbled in some Green Album which I don’t get to in the song. I felt the debate was a perfect metaphor for what that time was like so I wove the memories around that as a chorus. Those two records were somewhat of a soundtrack to those vignettes for me. Whether it’s Blue or Pinkerton is still a question I don’t have the answer to.”

Johanna Samuels 2026 Tour Dates

8/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
8/25 – New York City, NY @ Union Pool
9/4 – Kingston, NY @ Assembly*
9/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom*
9/11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Bottlerocket Social Hall*
9/12 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall*
9/13 – Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern*
9/15 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz*
9/16 – Burlington, VT @ Foam Brewers*
9/17 – Manchester, VT @ Billsville House Concerts*
9/18 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Press Room*
9/19 – Albany, NY @ Lark Hall*

*with Mikaela Davis

pre-order Sorry, Kid by Johanna Samuels HERE