Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes a sweet song from Walter Martin of the indie rock band, The Walkmen. “Sing to Me,” is a track from Martin’s upcoming debut album, We’re All Young Together, which is set to release on May 13 (via Family Jukebox). The album features guest appearances by Karen O and Nick Zinner of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Matt Berninger of the National, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Kat Edmonson, The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser and Matt Barrick, and more. 

I love this song. It’s almost unfair how much I love this song. I have always been a fan of The Walkmen and  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs so the pairing of Martin and Karen O on this track is a real treat. Martin’s deep baritone perfectly complements the ethereal beauty of Karen O’s. The words are romantic and whimsical in a fabulous way. This one will make your heart smile for sure! Really, the hardest part of listening to this song is deciding when to stop replaying it. I particularly love the lyrics: “I’d like to breach the castle walls of you & sing a concert in a hall of you” which feel so profound hidden among the other terms of endearment and graceful yodeling.

According to a press release, Martin began writing the songs on his new record when the Walkmen were finishing Heaven, which was also when his wife was pregnant with their first child. He calls We’re All Young Together “a family record”:

I began to imagine a record I really wanted to hear: something new and original that captured the essence of early rock ‘n’ roll – innocent but mischievous, romantic but funny, and unabashedly sweet. It wasn’t that I wanted to write songs to suit my new situation as a parent, it was more that parenthood made relevant writing the kind of songs I’ve always loved most.

Below is a lyric illustration for “Sing to Me” by illustrator Marcellus Hall, who designed the album’s artwork.