Since first forming in 2013, Scarves have been a staple in the Seattle DIY scene. Niko Stathakopoulos grew up going to and playing shows at all-ages spaces like the Firehouse in Redmond, WA –– the same community that helped platform bands likes Death Cab For Cutie and Modest Mouse during a time when all-ages shows were banned in Seattle proper. Their last album, Delicate Creatures (2022), led to slots opening up for PUP, Deerhoof, The Dodos.

Today the band are back with new single “Hey!,” off their forthcoming album Strays Forever, arriving on September 18 via Tender Loving Empire. The LP was Produced by Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Ratboys), “its population is made up of lovers, future parents, exhausted workers, strung-out siblings, and hopeless romantics all trying to stay soft when things seem to only be getting worse.”

“I wrote this song while playing around on a terrible Casio Keyboard from the 80s I’m obsessed with called the RapMan!,” explains Stathakopoulos (he/him). In the studio, that same sense of creative curiosity showed up through producer Chris Walla’s charmingly unorthodox ideas––including a looping sound created solely from Walla making an exaggerated “WHHOOOSH” into the mic. It gives the track a blown-out, distinctly 90s alternative-radio atmosphere.

Strays Forever was Scarves first time working with Chris Walla, and their collaborative chemistry is clear from just one listen. Recorded at Hall of Justice in Seattle, the band dove deeper into experimentation than ever before––at the delighted approval and encouragement of Walla, of course. Speak & Spell toys running through arpeggiators, live takes with no click tracks, flute, strings, accidents, tape manipulation… it’s all part of what Stathakopoulos calls Walla’s “Willy Wonka” approach to production.

Scarves
Strays Forever
Tender Loving Empire
Tracklisting

Self Soothing
Marionettes
Hey!
Strays Forever
Sour Things
Berlin
Chainsaw
We Should Get A Dog
Keep You Warm
Skeletons And Swords

order “Hey!” by Scarves HERE