Doe's Crunchy 'Labour Like I Do' Channels '90s Riff-Pop

Never expect someone to organize your life, to bear the weight of responsibility that should be shared. Whether it's household chores or managing trauma, there's a wide spectrum of emotional labor that piles up, particularly on women, as physical and mental exhaustion reach a tipping point.

Doe's new album, Grow Into It, deals with the pains of growing up, polishing the London trio's oblong, punk-battered riff-pop. It's clear that guitarist and singer Nicola Leel has navigated the choppy waters of emotional labor for far too long, and on "Labour Like I Do" (spelled with a British u, of course) she responds with blunt feedback: "We'll go swimming / I'll breathe for both of us / And you'll let me / Because you don't have the guts."

"'Labour Like I Do' is one of those songs that came flowing out like a stream of consciousness," Leel tells NPR Music. "For that reason, it's lyrically one of the more straight-up songs on the record, but sometimes it's cool when you blurt out a bunch of words to music and realize you've used songwriting as a form of accidental therapy."

Premiering today with a video featuring domestic aliens, "Labour Like I Do" sports some slide guitar and a little synth melody inspired by The Cars. Leel and guitarist Dean Smithers channel the crunchy-yet-bubbly hooks of Pixies, complete with a Frank Black-esque shout that Leel added in the studio without telling her mates first. As the band comes out of wily guitar solo, drummer Jake Popyura joins Leel in a warning to anyone who dares cross: "Next time, it's all on you."

Grow Into It comes out Sept. 28 via Topshelf Records (U.S.) and Big Scary Monsters (Europe).

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