Free Range Unveil New Single “Storm” New Album, Lost & Found, Out March 28th via Mick Music
Free Range, the project of Chicago-based musician Sofia Jensen (they/them), unveils “Storm”, the second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Lost & Found, out March 28th via Mick Music. In contrast to the electric barn-burner “Hardly,” “Storm” is an acoustic, twangy-mid tempo track featuring pedal steel from new bandmate Andy Krull.
Recalling the song’s genesis, Jensen says: “I have a song on my last record that some people mistook for being a song about touring, when in fact I had never been on tour at the time when I wrote the song. So this song was my intentional ‘song about tour.’ It’s about the whiplash that you start to feel when you’re constantly leaving home, as well as the excitement and emotional extremes that come with it.” They sing: “I keep on lying down / afraid that I’ll be found out I let all my thoughts come with me / when I go / sprinkle them out when I feel like/ coming home.”
Lost & Found is the follow up to Jensen’s “soul-baring” (Pitchfork) 2023 debut Practice. Lost & Found sees Jensen in similar territory with nuanced, mature reflections on just how tough forthrightness can be. “It’s hard to understand why I feel alone when I have so many friends, and why I feel isolated when I want to be connecting with people,” Jensen says. “I have a pretty easy time being honest lyrically and in music, and it feels like such an avenue for me to just express. But in my daily life, I’m a pretty private person and have a hard time telling people exactly how I feel.”
Jensen cites Townes Van Zandt’s direct lyrical style as an influence on Lost & Found: “His lyrics showed me that you could be earnest and still be taken seriously,” they say. “He’s saying things so plainly but really beautifully. … It would feel so simple and obvious, and I was like, ‘Why can’t I write [like] that?’” Sonically, Jensen took inspiration from longtime favorite musician Elliott Smith’s Either/Or, which, as Jensen puts it, contains “rock songs played on acoustic instruments.”
Jensen demoed most of Lost & Found in October 2023 in Silsbee, Texas, where producer Tommy Read, his sister Hannah Read (Lomelda), and Eric Adams (Acre Memos) helped Jensen whittle down 50 songs to a batch of 15. Jensen returned to Texas in January 2024 to record with the full Free Range band: bassist Bailey Minzenberger, drummer Jack Henry, and Krull on pedal steel.
Next month, Free Range will embark on a tour with Horsegirl. Following, they’ll play a record release show on April 10 at Chicago’s Empty Bottle, and then hit the road with Hovvdy. A full list of dates can be found below.
Free Range Tour Dates
Fri. Mar. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church %
Sat. Mar. 22 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
Sun. Mar. 23 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings %
Mon. Mar. 24 – Richmond, VA @ The Warehouse %
Wed. Mar. 26 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom %
Thu. Mar. 27 – Somerville, MA @ Arts at The Armory %
Fri. Mar. 28 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater %
Sat. Mar. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw %
Thu. April 10 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle ^ – record release show
Tues. May 13 – University City, MO @ Duck Room at Blueberry Hill #
Wed. May 14 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar #
Sat. May 17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad #
Tues. May 20 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head #
Wed. May 21 – Tulsa, OK @ Mercury Lounge #
Thu. May 22 – Memphis, TN @ 1884 Lou #
% w/ Horsegirl
# w/ Hovvdy