PONY have returned with “Sucker Punch,” the final single in ahead of their new album Velveteen, which drops on May 19th, 2023, via Take This To Heart Records. “Initially ‘Sucker Punch’ was written about the Pine Barrens episode of The Sopranos. It had to exist in a few different forms before it became what you hear on the record. Matty’s ability to write and layer guitar parts and melodies really added to the song’s aesthetic,” explains Bielanski. “Thematically, it’s about a massive miscommunication that leaves you feeling blindsided by the person on the other end. It’s about being caught off guard or surprised by an outcome, even if you are partially to blame.” “Sucker Punch” arrives following additional album singles “Très Jolie.”

After playing a run of dates with Softcult, PONY will next head back on the road for dates with Superheaven in the U.S. (including a May 19 show at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY). The band will also celebrate Velveteen’s release with a hometown show in Toronto at The Drake Underground on May 26th.

For Bielanski (who also, aptly, voices Jazz Hooves on the current generation of My Little Pony), 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.”

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 2023 Tour dates:

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+
05/25/2023 – Ottawa, ON – Rainbow Bistro
05/26/2023 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Underground (Record Release Show)
05/27/2023 – Windsor, ON – Craft Heads Brewing^
05/28/2023 – Detroit, MI – Loving Touch*

+ Supporting Superheaven
^ Talking Violet supports
* Supporting Chloe Lilac

pre-order Velveteen by PONY HERE