Last month, Sarah Shook (of Sarah Shook & the Disarmers) announced their new indie rock/dark pop solo project Mightmare and a debut album Cruel Liars (out on October 14 via Kill Rock Stars). Today, Mightmare is releasing a new single “Easy” via streaming platforms (LINK), along with an anime music video (LINK).
“[The single] is easily the most lighthearted song I’ve written,” Shook says. “I felt like anime was the perfect way to tease the innocence and agony of exploring a new love interest.”
In addition to the new single and video, Mightmare announced a run of October tour dates, marking the group’s first public performances. Dates can be found here and at the bottom.
Mightmare came about as an intrinsic need to create and express when Sarah Shook & the Disarmers were grounded from touring during the global pandemic in 2020. Fresh off becoming sober, Shook devoted newly available time and energy into the comprehensive process of making an album from start to finish. As a result, Cruel Liars is almost completely self-made and was written, produced, and engineered by Shook.
“I created my solo project Mightmare and leaned into it obsessively for the first year of the pandemic and out of that manic fixation came Cruel Liars,” Shook says. “I put every cell and strand of my being in this album, I’m proud of it for its brightest moments and its glaring imperfections, for its darkness and its quiet hand guiding me to zeniths of personal truths.”
The debut album’s eight songs are brimming with textured emotion, anthemic energy, and striking depth. Cruel Liars is accessible at any entry point – whether it’s a crawling, cinematic indie rock feel of lead single “Saturn Turns” or the uplifting electronic production of “Easy” – and unlike anything Shook has done before.
Mightmare – October Tour
October 19 – Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
October 20 – Atlanta, GA – 529
October 21 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room
October 22 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
October 23 – Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
October 24 – Columbus, OH – Rumba Café
October 25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
October 27 – Cincinnati, OH – Southgate House Revival
October 28 – Urbana, IL – Rose Bowl Tavern
October 30 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle