Mamalarky have shared a second track taken from their forthcoming new album, Pocket Fantasy which is set for release on September 30 through Fire Talk Records.

Following the album’s debut single and ode to friendship ‘Mythical Bonds’, new track ‘It Hurts’ has a delicate, introspective warmth. It shows a softer side to the album in contrast to the angular melodies and off-kilter pop moments, with Livvy Bennett’s plaintive vocal performance wrapped in a building whirl of keyboards.

“Writing about this song in this context feels extremely meta because the song itself picks at what it’s like as a musician to essentially be careerizing your own experiences and emotions,” Bennett explains. “It’s pretty bizarre to put out shit that is so personal – like, when someone loves a sad song you wrote it’s like…I’m sorry we’ve been down in the same way? Or, I’m glad you enjoy listening to something that was essentially an intervention that I needed to have, haha.

“‘It Hurts’ is also a bit about the one-sided narrative of songwriters writing about their lives and relationships, for that to exist out there forever and to be consumed by people who only know the song. I’m always left wondering about the other side of the story when I hear those epic heartbreak songs, we’ll just never know.

“There’s one line about being ‘a poorly drawn caricature,’ which is what it can feel like having any of your music deciphered by anyone. The goal is to draw a really moving, poignant portrait though and I feel closer to doing that with every song we put out.”