clay pigeon - Cash Out in Kid Gloves (2026) [Hi-Res]

clay pigeon have spent the past several years developing a sound that embraces the spontaneity and imperfections of live performance. On Cash Out in Kid Gloves, that approach becomes both the foundation of the record and something to deliberately disrupt.

Recorded across a residency in Woburn, Quebec, a nineteenth-century heritage home in Peterborough, Ontario, and additional sessions in Montreal, the album began with an emphasis on capturing musicians playing together in a room. Those performances were subsequently manipulated through electronic processing, edits, and conspicuous post-production, introducing synthetic textures that challenge the organic nature of the original recordings. At other moments, the process was reversed entirely, with modular drum patterns guiding the musicians and allowing technology to influence the direction of a performance. The result is a record that exists somewhere between the familiar and the unexpected, where intimate songwriting and traditional instrumentation collide with mechanical fragments, unpredictable rhythms, and digital experimentation. Rather than concealing the tension between these elements, clay pigeon lean into it, allowing the imperfections of both human and machine to become part of the album's character.

Elsewhere on the record, previously released singles "Mount Pleasant" and "Return" introduce listeners to Clayton's deeply personal approach to storytelling, finding meaning in the seemingly ordinary details of everyday life. Across the album, moments of grief, humour, love, and uncertainty unfold through vivid imagery and understated observations, balancing the weight of its subject matter with a distinctly human sense of warmth.

On "Cigarettes & Candy," the band offers one of the clearest examples of the album's creative philosophy. Originally inspired by an offhand remark from a coworker, the song took on an entirely different shape when Climenhage introduced a modular drum pattern during recording. Played through the room monitors as the band performed, the unpredictable electronic rhythm encouraged the musicians to respond instinctively, creating a performance in which technology became an active participant rather than simply a production tool.

The experience reflects the larger questions at the heart of Cash Out in Kid Gloves. As technology becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, from the devices people carry to the platforms through which they consume art, clay pigeon explore what it means to preserve spontaneity, individuality, and genuine human connection within those systems.

Following their 2024 debut album, The Aching Taste of Blue, Cash Out in Kid Gloves marks a new chapter for clay pigeon, expanding the band's sonic palette while maintaining the intimate, observational songwriting that first brought the project together.

James Clayton - guitar, vocals
Owen Saar - bass, piano, keyboards, organ, vocals
Rhys Climenhage - drums, guitar, modular, vocals
Maria Peddle - fiddle
Dylan Keating - pedal steel