New Single From Titus Andronicus

"Above the Bodega (Local Business)"

"I can keep a secret from my mama / I can keep a secret from my pa / I keep myself out of trouble / Stay one step ahead of the law /And I can keep it from my neighbors / It ain't like they even care / But I can't keep a secret from the guy at the store downstairs"

And later...

"Because you can lie with yr expression / Or lie with the things you say / But you can't lie with yr dollars, nah, babe / Yr dollars, they give you away"

I actually think like this a lot. When I'm running through the checkout line at 6:30pm with a rotisserie chicken and two bags of highly-processed Uncle Ben's 90-Second Ready Rice, the cashier knows I've procrastinated all day about what I'm gonna feed my kids. When it's late Valentine's Evening and I bring the last card and a mismatched envelope up to the front at Walgreen's, the person telling me to "Be well" knows I'm a thoughtless idiot.

You can't really keep any secrets from the people who sell you what you need to get through the day. That's the theme of the latest single from Titus Andronicus, "Above the Bodega (Local Business)."

In the words of Titus Andronicus frontman / mastermind, Patrick Stickles, "More and more, we are defined by the things which we consume, and those who facilitate that consumption may glimpse a more truthful view of ourselves than the carefully curated image we share with our loved ones. No one knows the depths of my vice better than they who oversee the transactions which make it possible—in this way, the deli clerk knows me better than my own mother."

The song is a soulful rocker "[d]riven by a propulsive engine of shakers and congas, zesty horns and funky clavinet" and featuring a large supporting cast. Patrick Stickles's mother even makes a cameo in the accompanying video.

"Above the Bodega (Local Business)" is the second single from A Productive Cough, the upcoming fifth studio LP from Titus Andronicus. The album is due for release via Merge Records on March 2nd.