Queen Of Jeans Hiding In Place Peach

Hiding in Place, the new EP from Philadelphia's Queen ofJeans, opens with the springy pluck of a single note on electricguitar, like a ping from a satellite waiting for a response ina long, quiet expanse. Then, Miri Devora's voice atop guitarand drums: "Hiding in place, conjure your face/Don't wannalose my mind."This is the title track's invitation to a four-song study of loneliness,alienation, and the unraveling that comes with thosestates, but it's also bookended with moments of levity: joyand romance burst through on second track "Why Hide," aresponse of sorts to the title track's cloistered anxiety. Devorawrote the songs at the start of the pandemic in March 2020when she had just been laid off from her job of almost 10years. Her partner, guitarist Mattie Glass, worked 11 hourshifts at a grocery store, so Devora was alone in their apartmentfor months on end. When they were written, theseweren't intended to be pandemic-specific."While these aren't `pandemic songs,' they carry that weight,"says Devora. "There's that sense of loneliness and evenlonging that I think for many have gone hand-in-hand withthe pandemic. Hiding in Place is like hiding within these wallsthat we were confined to, but it's also about hiding withinyourself and not being able to necessarily express any kindof fears or desires you have."This is part of what makes Hiding in Place such an aptcollection for this moment: with this EP, which follows theband's 2019 LP If you're not afraid, I'm not afraid, hiding canbe a safe release or a painful suppression, depending on thecontext. That duality_and the complicated nuance of livedexperience that it suggests_defines our lives now.This 12" EP features Hiding in Place in Full as well as theentirety of Queen of Jeans' 2021 Covers EP, including abombastic cover of Wheatus' now viral "Teenage Dirtbag."