Sophia Michaels
U.S. Girls are back with one more new song, “Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo),” before the release of their next album, Bless This Mess, out this Friday, Feb. 24, via 4AD.
The glittering disco gem — which arrives with a music video starring the dancer Libydo — finds U.S. Girls’ Meg Remy singing from the perspective of a tuxedo languishing in a closet, yearning to be donned once more: “I was born to be worn/custom fit to make you feel legit,” Remy sings, “I was expensive, excessive/Now you’re too embarrassed to wear me round the house.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Remy spoke about the origins of “Tux,” and how it was born out of pandemic-era pondering about people’s closets, designer clothes, consumption, and waste. She was also intrigued by the idea of singing from the perspective of a tuxedo, saying the idea reminded her of Sparks — “like Ron Mal would come up with some silly tuxedo song,” she quipped.
Remy continued, “There’s definitely class stuff, waste issues — you could read any of that into it. But I think the main reading for me was, it’s just sad when something gets discarded that’s useful still, or could be given to someone else. And it either sits unused, or it sits in a garbage dump. And it’s not sad because I think the tuxedo has feelings; I think it’s sad because of what it says about us. But also, I mean, it’s just a hot song!” (These quotes were previously unpublished.)
“Tux” is the fourth song Remy has shared from Bless This Mess, following the title track, “So Typically Now,” and “Futures Bet.” The album follows U.S. Girls’ celebrated 2020 album, Heavy Light. U.S. Girls will play a handful of North American shows in support of Bless This Mess this spring, starting April 13 in Montreal and wrapping on April 28 in Toronto.
