With the arrival of new music and a healthy concert schedule to close out the year, it’s a good time for fans of STL indie rock band Town Cars. Helmed by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Melinda Cooper, the group’s beloved 2014 debut album, Hearts and Stars, featured her as its sole writer and musician. Having spent substantial time playing in friends’ projects, Hearts and Stars marked for Cooper a time of creative transition, as she found herself forming a backing band rather than playing in one. Lindsay Reber, Wade Durbin, Cassie Morgan, and Matt Pace, along with Celia Shacklett and Kevin Buckley, currently serve as Cooper’s cavalcade.

[Left to right] Reber, Morgan, Durbin, Cooper, and Pace

Soon after Town Cars became a full band, the recorded tracks were being reinterpreted on stage while Cooper and crew grew tighter, louder, and more confident as a unit. For the last two years, new songs had been working their way into Town Cars’ set. Cooper was writing, working, and playing music voraciously.

Now halfway through 2017, many Town Cars shows later and with best friendships intact, Cooper and the band have set about the business of recording a new album, this time collaboratively. It’s slated for release early next year. Town Cars, Live and In Concert, is a hard-charging, cathartic experience that’s not devoid of charm, a by-product of the group’s closeness and trust of its members. And if the first single is any indication, expect much of the same on the to-be-named 2018 full-length.

“Ms. September,” premiering below, is a testament to occasional escapism. The song recalls the confounding aftermath of an untimely, tragic loss Cooper and the entire St. Louis music community suffered in 2015. The song also rocks really hard and just feels good to listen to:

While Town Cars patrons will have to wait until next year for a new album, they can see TC perform “Ms. September” and more in 3 hours TODAY at Whiskey War Festival! Plenty of tickets are available at the door and the performance schedule can be found here. Hope to see you out there.