Lady on the Bike—the debut album from cinematic electro-pop duo Ringdown, featuring Danni Lee Parpan and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw—celebrates the feeling of possibility in myriad forms: the possibility of love; the possibility of creating connection and community in a world trying to pull those things apart; the possibility of making music in new ways. The songs were collaboratively written and recorded by the duo. New Body Electric members Leah Vautar and Aaron K Peterson perform on and help produce several songs; Sō Percussion is featured on a new version of Ringdown’s previously released single “Ghost.”
Cinematic electro-pop duo Ringdown, featuring Danni Lee Parpan and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw, will release its debut album, Lady on the Bike, May 9 on Nonesuch Records. The album celebrates the feeling of possibility in myriad forms: the possibility of love; the possibility of creating connection and community in a world trying to pull those things apart; the possibility of making music in new ways. The album track “Run,” a song about the empowerment of breaking free from personal and systemic injustices, can be heard here:
Ringdown will create custom sleeves for the first fifty Nonesuch Store pre-orders of vinyl, which will each be uniquely designed and handmade by Shaw and Parpan and shipped as a bonus cover alongside the original vinyl packaging. The custom sleeves pay tribute to a defining moment for the band, which inspired the album’s name.
“We were at Big Ears Festival and about to perform our first big Ringdown show,” Parpan explains. “There’s an infectious feeling of community there, so we thought it was the perfect spot to connect with people in a special way. We handmade vinyl covers for our future album and hid them in our favorite spots around Knoxville for others to find, but after planting them, we started spiraling and wondering if no one would care, and if we had just accidentally littered in a very branded way. At that moment, a lady rode past on her bike and yelled, ‘Hey Ringdown! I just found an album cover!’ We were overjoyed. It felt like a movie. That moment of connection became an important reminder of why we make music, and now our mantra is: ‘For younger you, for younger me, for future us, and for the lady on the bike.’”
Lady on the Bike is a mix of Shaw and Parpan’s pasts and presents, expressed in new ways. The duo was drawn to each other through mutual admiration of each other’s work; Shaw has won a Pulitzer Prize and several Grammy Awards for her boundary-breaking compositions and collaborated with celebrated artists such as Nas and Rosalía, and Parpan is a dynamic vocalist and folk-pop singer-songwriter who sings emotionally stirring lyrics and relishes in challenging how instruments are “supposed” to be played. Ringdown is a playground they can only access with each other, allowing them to create a style of pop music that explores the spaces between electronic and acoustic sounds and re-imagines traditional song structure.
Shaw explains, “I’ve thought for years about making a solo record that is in a more electro-pop vein, but didn’t have the courage. Danni Lee finally brought that out of me, and I wouldn’t have taken this step if it weren’t for her. Ringdown is where I experiment with so many things I’ve wanted to try. I’ve also learned that being in a band and making your own record is much harder than playing a Mozart sonata and I will absolutely die on that hill.”
The songs on Lady on the Bike draw from subjects such as relationships (good and not-so-good), personal growth, political anger, and joy.
Parpan shares, “I hope this album helps people feel whatever they need to feel. That when they listen to ‘Reckoning,’ they will consider bravely sending it to someone they love. That when they listen to ‘Two-Step,’ they will feel like dancing. That when they listen to ‘Run,’ they will feel inspired to fight for their rights, especially over the next four years.”
Shaw adds, “There are a few songs that feel like they were written to motivate an imagined heroine of a story to change her course and vanquish her enemies—and maybe fall in love along the way. I hope someone listens and wonders what their world could look like with a little more love, gentleness, and embrace of our collective human messiness, imperfection, grit, radiance, and potential.”
The songs were collaboratively written and recorded by the duo, mostly in unconventional settings around the world—at airports, Airbnbs, the Muziekgebouw concert hall, under a bridge in Amsterdam—and often using blankets to create makeshift sound booths and a Neumann TLM 102 mic that Shaw has carried with her for years. Ringdown invited New Body Electric members Leah Vautar and Aaron K Peterson to perform on and help produce several songs, helping the band crystallize its distinct pop sound. The album also features Sō Percussion on a new version of Ringdown’s previously released single “Ghost.” Ringdown appeared on Sō and Shaw’s Grammy-winning album Rectangles and Circumstance.
