Premiered by Under the Radar Magazine – https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/premiere_alexei_shishkin_shares_new_track_magpie

“I was actually going to name the album Magpie, but by the time we got around the finalizing it, Peach Pit had *just* released an album called Magpie, so I obviously couldn’t bite that (much like the pit of a peach, coincidentally). This song is another product of mine and Brad’s “experimental” songwriting on this album. I think I had recently seen (or was thinking about) an animated short called Robin Robin, where Richard E. Grant voices a magpie character. Or maybe it was because my friend Joe likes Newcastle, who are called the Magpies. I’m not really sure, but either way, I was fascinated with the birds, so if I recall correctly, I asked Brad to open up a browser window on the video monitor in the vocal booth and just pull up some “magpie facts” for me to get inspiration from. “I see you taking everything shiny” is a nod to magpies loving shiny things; “moving in tidings” refers to the fact that a group of magpies is called a tiding; and then there’s the more obvious things like “flying”, “flocking”, “chattering”, etc. Gotta love a magpie!” – Alexei Shishkin

press@audioantihero.com 
whoisruedefense@gmail.com

Magpie

Taken from 'Good Times' (Out Sep 5th via Rue Defense) - Making Of Essay: https://atwoodmagazine.com/essay-alexei-shishkin-the-making-of-good-times

'Tiki Taka (2006)' Premiere: https://fortherabbits.net/2025/07/24/premiere-alexei-shishkin-tiki-taka-2006

“This song was inspired by FC Barcelona, but not by my own choosing. For this one (and most of the tunes on this album, tbh), Brad and I wrote all the music first and then filled in the gaps with mostly improvised lyrics. I went into the vocal booth, and Brad put on some random soccer highlights for me to watch while singing. It just so happened that he pulled up some supercut of Barca moments, so I just started making up soccer things: the “landslide in Sevilla” was about some match where Barca were beating Sevilla team by a lot of goals; getting “broken down” is about Barca passing the ball around until they find a gap in the defense that they can exploit; and the “move it around” refrain is also about the act of passing the ball around the field and maintaining possession. Ironically, it pains me because I normally cheer against Barcelona, but I would be a fool to deny their greatness.” – Alexei Shishkin

press@audioantihero.com 
whoisruedefense@gmail.com

Tiki Taka (2006)

https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/good-times

“This one was inspired by Carl Dennis, a favorite poet of mine. He has a poem called “At Home With Cézanne” that I had read the night before and really enjoyed. Again, Brad and I wrote the bulk of the music first, and then I fit lyrics to the music. I couldn’t find the text of the poem anywhere online, so here’s a picture of it – https://imgur.com/a/q5mG1A2. I took his characters, but tried to re-imagine them in a slightly different, parallel universe.” – Alexei Shishkin

press@audioantihero.com 
whoisruedefense@gmail.com

Ode to Carl Dennis

https://tiberiuswright.bandcamp.com/album/troubadour-2

Redwood

"Sag" is the lead single from Troubadour (Nov 14th): https://tiberiuswright.bandcamp.com/album/troubadour-2

“Sag is about this dreaded ‘Allston to Bushwick’ pipeline we have in Boston. A lot of musicians end up using Boston to cut their teeth before heading off to New York or LA to pursue their music careers. I wrote ‘Sag’ when I was really playing the ‘comparison game’ in my head, and asking myself what role I wanted music to play in my life. It was the first in a batch about looking at yourself in relation to the others around you, and trying to decipher who you are without that context.“ – Brendan Wright (they/them)

Lyrics:

Free cheers for Elliot!
How’d you get so down?
How’d you get so sad, walking through the grocery store while talking with your dad?

I have no patience for this urgency
I’ve been pining after too many things

Try to let it go if it really makes you feel so alone
Looking at yourself through the eyes of everybody else

Lately I’ve been aggrandizing self importance

I want it more than I could ever say
But I’ve seen the doorway shut
The paralyzing eyes 
An iridic speck of light

And if you’re sad about moving on
Well that makes sense but New York aint too far
From dragging amps and dragging ass to play a show at the tourist trap
Why do I try
 to keep on trying?

"Felt" is the second single from Troubadour (Nov 14th): https://tiberiuswright.bandcamp.com/album/troubadour-2

“When I wrote Felt, I was fairly fresh out of a breakup and was spending a lot of time looking for distractions. Instead of tackling some bigger questions and engaging in a healthy recovery, I was tucking away my feelings into compartments and distracting myself with casual dating. I was spending some late nights slipping into the backstories of strangers' lives - exhilarating, but merely theatrical. It never eased the issue at hand. I was alone, and I was terrified to sit with that.” – Brendan Wright (they/them)

Lyrics:

I’ve been trying to move rocks but my arms won’t budge
My back foot treads as I chip my tooth
And now I’m getting pissed off at all of the dudes
For the lack of excitement

Like a package that mom sent being left on the porch and out in the rain
While over looking for love, 
But now you’re looking insane in front of stranger’s apartments
With feelings held in compartments just out of reach
Left you drunk and ashamed despite of everything being okay

It’s supposed to be this way
I’ve been okay

I’m feeling sick to my stomach despite trying to hide it
She said when i was her age that she drove cross country
Her brother left her out in Albuquerque over a girl that they wanted
She found her way up to Denver where she slept with a man by the name of alvaro
English broken, she fell in love for two weeks
He still writes her letters, with the pen of a fifth grader
I’m just as old as her daughter just a few years ahead

Are you having a good time?
I wasn’t sure what I’d expect to find, 
I laughed, I am

But as soon as driving home
It hit that I am still alone
I wouldn’t outgrow the pain of any single day 
It sucks to be alive sometimes
But I’m living long enough to write it down
So I’ll have time to figure it out

But I feel the same now

Felt

Sitting

It Has to Be True

"Moab" is the third single from 'Troubadour' (Nov 14th) - https://tiberiuswright.bandcamp.com/album/troubadour-2

The single will premiere with Under the Radar Magazine in September.

“Moab was a song I wrote about trying to let go. At the time I was defining myself by expectations of a strained relationship. I was feeling pretty insane - like the kind of insane you feel back in 8th grade where you come home crying all of the time because you have absolutely no sense of self. Writing ‘Moab’ offered catharsis. Looking back, I feel a lot of embarrassment around those feelings, - but it was how I felt at the time and that was the place I was in. I wish I had acted differently, and I strive to now.” – Brendan Wright (they/them)

Lyrics:

I give up

She wants to know everything
Plans her day while laying down for bed
Of what she can and can’t control 
She knows the most 
Copes with just how to feel alone
much better than I could ever do
now she’s crying over spiders
Moved by the beauty of the webs
When trying to build their home
She said it gives her hope 
Of a purer way of moving through
Don't they know 
That what we could do
Swat it down at anytime 
Oh how could they know
To not give up 
Like I give up 
I want to love unselfishly 
She said it’s not that it’s you
It’s not the best for me 
But don’t you love it yer mothers cut in 
It gives me hope
From Down in Moab 
And up to Rome, NY
But That was 11 days ago 
And while there’s still so much left to know 
There’s now nothing left to hold 
onto
But How could I know 
So I’ll still 
Hold on 

It’s not your problem
Just forget it 
I could if you wanted 
I told my mother 
It'd be different 
but it’s not like any other 
I want to say something important 
But I can’t help but stutter 
I’m thinking something 
No it ain’t worth it 
I could but you couldn't
I could but you couldn’t 
I could but you couldn’t 
I can but I shouldn’t

Moab

"Painting of a Tree" is the fourth single from 'Troubadour' (November 14th) - https://tiberiuswright.bandcamp.com/album/troubadour-2

“There’s this older man I work with - a kooky gentleman who’s kind of off his rocker - but at the same time can incite this erudite understanding of the human condition. When I asked him if he had any advice for someone really mulling over some heartache, he chuckled. He said, “an artist cannot paint a tree, unless they examine all aspects of it.” I wrote, Painting of a Tree, as an homage to this idea that this kind of hurt was a truly human experience. A kind of pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but something that I feel thankful to have experienced. The kind of pain that makes us who we are.” – Brendan Wright (they/them)

Lyrics:

You came for love 
You leave with lessons 
The way you walk
Left me adolescent 
Take the time to notice 
The tree line you’re painting 

Goosebumps 
And laughing sideways
In the Stained chair 
You left to my place

I hope they love you 
Like I do 
At least the way I wanted to
Not the way I did 

Why’re you here
in the first place?
I saw you leave 
With your head raised 
Not that it’s wrong 
To see you around 
I just don’t know how to act

I’ll have your back
again someday friend