Kai Slater, of the Chicago rock trio Lifeguard, has announced a new album from his bedroom pop project Sharp Pins: Balloon Balloon Balloon is out November 21 (via K/Perennial). Below, watch director Grace Bader Conrad’s colorful music video for lead single “(I Wanna) Be Your Girl.”
Slater worked on his new album between January and May of this year. He recorded it at his Chicago home and with Hayes Waring at the producer’s Olympia, Washington, studio, Mobile Control.
Slater released his first Sharp Pins album, Turtle Rock, in 2023, via his own Hallogallo Tapes label. The next year, he self-released Radio DDR, before it got an expanded re-release, via K and Perennial, in March.
Slater handles guitar and vocals in Lifeguard. He’s joined in the band by bassist, baritone guitarist, and vocalist Asher Case and drummer and synthesizer player Isaac Lowenstein. Lifeguard released their debut studio album, Ripped and Torn, in June.
Balloon Balloon Balloon:
01 Popafangout
02 I Don’t Have the Heart
03 I Could Find Out
04 Queen of Globes and Mirrors
05 (I Wanna) Be Your Girl
06 Gonna Learn To Crawl
07 Balloon 1
08 I Don’t Adore-Youo
09 All the Prefabs
10 Talking in Your Sleep
11 Fall in Love Again
12 Serene Haus of Hair
13 (In a While) You’ll Be Mine
14 Balloon 2
15 Ex-Priest / In a Hole of a Home
16 Takes So Long
17 Stop to Say “Hello”
18 All the Shops and Stores Are Closing Now
19 Maria Don’t
20 Crown of Thorns
21 Balloon 3