Half Waif Previews New Album With ‘Swimmer’

Half Waif, a.k.a. Nandi Rose, has announced the new album Mythopoetics, out July 9th.

To accompany the announcement, Rose dropped the mystical single “Swimmer.” The Kenna Hynes-directed video opens with a motorcycle racing down a desolate road over looping synths. Later, Rose finds a magical flower and brings it to a woman — her real-life mother.

“I wrote ‘Swimmer’ after visiting my aunt, who has Alzheimer’s,” Rose said in a statement. “I’ll never forget the summer we were swimming at the lake where our family has a cabin — her mind was already slipping, but her body was still strong enough to swim across to the other side. It was incredible, how both things could be true. Now, the only way I can reach her is through music. I sing for her with my hand on her shoulder, feeling the soft weight of her body through the blanket, pouring all of the love I have from my voice into that warm arm. I try to reconcile what is still here with what has already gone.”

“Swimmer” is the fourth single from Mythopoetics, after “Take Away the Ache,” “Orange Blossoms,” and “Party’s Over.” The album marks Rose’s fifth LP, following 2020’s The Caretaker.

Mythopoetics Tracklist

1. Fabric
2. Swimmer
3. Take Away the Ache
4. Fortress
5. The Apartment
6. Sourdough
7. Party’s Over
8. Horse Racing
9. Orange Blossoms
10. Midnight Asks
11. Sodium and Cigarettes
12. Powder