Eleanor Friedberger put out one of our Best Albums of 2011 with her sunny-sounding pop-inflected solo album Last Summer, and she is now a perennial favorite at Chez Lefort.  Make no mistake about it:  Friedberger has a way with upbeat, summery pop-rock.  Now comes the good news that Friedberger will release her second solo album, Personal Record, on June 4th on Merge Records.

Before releasing Last Summer, Friedberger spent the prior decade in the critically-acclaimed (but at times maddening) indie-rock “band” The Fiery Furnaces (currently on hiatus) with her brother Matthew.  Let’s see here…hmmm.  Eleanor has now released two comparatively straightforward, but masterful pop-rock albums and Matthew has released…oh.  In 2011 Matthew Friedberger released eight (8!) albums each focusing on one particular instrument.  And then in 2012 he released Matricidal Sons of Bitches, which included 45 tracks for a “soundtrack for an imaginary horror film.”  We may have figured out the maddening portion of The Fiery Furnaces equation.  As we were saying:  we love Eleanor Friedberger’s music!

To get a feel for Friedberger’s post-Fiery-Furnaces sound, listen below to Stare At  The Sun, the first song off the new album.  It’s great to hear Friedberger back with her ever-intelligent pop sounds. After, you can watch/read her comedic trailer for the new album. The new album’s tracklist is at bottom.  We can’t wait for it.

Personal Record tracklist:

1. I Don’t Want to Bother You
2. When I Knew
3. I’ll Never Be Happy Again
4. Stare at the Sun
5. Echo or Encore
6. My Own World
7. Tomorrow Tomorrow
8. You’ll Never Know Me
9. I Am the Past
10. She’s a Mirror
11. Other Boys
12. Singing Time