Pony have announced today that their sophomore album, Velveteen, will be released on May 19, 2023, via Take This To Heart Records. Along with the news the band have shared new single “Très Jolie,” which follows additional album singles “Did It Again,” “Peach,” and “French Class.” “‘Très Jolie’ is obviously a love song. It’s about falling hard and fast, and allowing your love brain to trick you into believing that you’re in a healthier mental state than you truly are,” explains Bielanski. “I know I tend to hide the ways that I struggle in the beginning of relationships because everything else feels brand new. ‘Très Jolie’ is about the conflicting emotions of falling in love with someone when you don’t quite love yourself yet.”

The duo comprised of Sam Bielanski and multi-instrumentalist Matty Morand played shows with artists including Jimmy Eat World, Fucked Up, and Militarie Gun in 2022–will head back on the road this spring for dates supporting Softcult in Canada and then Superheaven in the U.S (including a May 19 show at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY). Find the full current itinerary below.

For Bielanski, the time around writing Velveteen included a nine-month struggle with insomnia, during which they reached for the nightly balm of an audiobook of The Velveteen Rabbit. The classic tale resonated so deeply with them that it ended up inspiring the album’s title and influencing the themes that run through it–feelings of existential dread or worthlessness, as well as self-acceptance and vulnerability. “I became obsessed with it but I always fell asleep before getting to the end. The way I interpreted the story was that it’s the love that we give and receive that makes us real or whole,” they explain. “The one chapter I found especially heart wrenching is when the velveteen rabbit is trying to hang with the real rabbits of the forest, and through comparison, he realizes he isn’t as real as he thought he was. It was a good lesson for me, even now, because I’m constantly fighting the urge to compare myself to others. Your individual experiences make you who you are and nothing can change that. That’s what I thought, until I finally listened to the whole thing and found out that at the end of the book, a fairy turns the velveteen rabbit into an actual rabbit, which I felt undermined the earlier lessons of the story. After that, I was really confused.”

Velveteen emerged through this combination of seclusion, introspection, entertainment deep-dives, and the sleep-deprived osmosis of a children’s story. Bielanski, due to a bad neighbor’s demands for quiet, was forced to record many of the album’s demos into their iPhone while tucked away in a closet (which happens to also double as a vocal booth for their voice work, aptly, as Jazz Hooves on the current generation of My Little Pony). Despite the isolationist nature of this process, they double down on the importance of connection and collaboration when reflecting on Velveteen’s creation. “Once I was happy with the songs, Matty would add their contributions until we felt the songs were nearly done,” Bielanski says. “It was amazing to see how much the songs would change every time a new person was added into the mix. It wasn’t until we recorded them in the studio with [recording engineer] Alex Gamble that the songs truly came to life for me.”

Bielanski’s read of a stuffed rabbit’s quest for self-acceptance is the beating heart that gives Velveteen life. The album’s consideration of love, finding a feeling of belonging, and the pursuit for authenticity is woven throughout. “I’ve learned that we become our most authentic selves when we allow ourselves to be open and deeply affected by someone else,” explains Bielanski. “A lot of the songs on TV Baby were about finding the power in being alone. Since then I have done a lot of growing and realized that isolating oneself from others doesn’t serve you in the pursuit of happiness. Showing the love that we have for others is what matters.”

Pony
Velveteen
track listing:

1. Très Jolie
2. Peach
3. Sick
4. Sucker Punch
5. Haunted House
6. Who’s Calling
7. Did It Again
8. French Class
9. Sunny Rose
10. Haircut

PONY 2023 tour dates:

03/28/2023 – Hamilton, ON – Mills Hardware*
03/31/2023 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Underground*
05/19/2023 – Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere+
05/20/2023 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer+
05/21/2023 – Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom+ (SOLD OUT)
05/22/2023 – Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom+

* With Softcult
+ Supporting Superheaven

Pre-order Velveteen by Pony HERE