Yard Sale, the sophomore solo album from the now Austin, TX-based Suzanne Santo, is the musical equivalent of a homeowner’s purging of old possessions in order to clear up some much-needed room. Releasing August 27 via Soundly Music, the album marks the moment where Santo makes peace with her past and embraces a better, bolder present. A tireless creator, Santo has built her sound in the grey area between Americana, Southern-gothic soul, and forward-thinking rock & roll. It is a sound that nods to her past—a childhood spent in the Rust Belt which is also where she learned to love a yard sale; a decade logged as a member of the L.A.-based duo HoneyHoney; the acclaimed solo album, Ruby Red, of which Paste called “shameless, self-aware dialogue that opens the door for conversation that leads to real healing;” and the world tour that took her from Greece to Glastonbury as a member of Hozier’s band—while still exploring new territory. With Yard Sale, Santo boldly moves forward, staking her claim once again as an Americana innovator. It is an album inspired by the past, written by an artist who is only interested in the here-and-now. And for Suzanne Santo, the here-and-now sounds pretty good. The album’s first single “Bad Beast” is available everywhere today, listen here. Fans can pre-order or pre-save by clicking here. (Suzanne Santo, 2021)

Yard Sale finds Santo in transition, physically and emotionally. She began writing the album while touring the globe with Hozier—a gig that utilized her strengths not only as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, but also as a road warrior. Some songs were written between Hozier rehearsals, with Santo holing up in a farmhouse on the rural Irish coast, while others were finished during bus rides, backstage writing sessions, and hotel stays. Grateful for the experience but eager to return to her solo career, she finished her run with Hozier, joining the band for one final gig at Glastonbury before flying home to Los Angeles. Within three days, she was back in the studio, working with producer John Spiker on what was to become Yard Sale.

Upon returning home, Los Angeles became stale for Santo as the city is inclined to do. A partner breakup paired with the hiatus of HoneyHoney left her feeling lonely in her own home—sparking the cosmic relocation to Austin, TX—a city whose fingerprints are all over Yard Sale, thanks to appearances by hometown heroes like Gary Clark Jr. and Shakey Graves. Thus the metaphorical album title of Yard Sale became literal with a cross country move and the emotional unpacking and shedding that happens when life in a new city, with a new love, beckons.

The album presents Santo at the very top of her game musically, writing her own string arrangements and singing each song in an agile, acrobatic voice—perhaps in part due to the cathartic making-of process and what that has meant for her professionally and personally. At times she bridges the gap between indie-rock and neo-soul. On other tracks, she mixes gospel influences with a deconstructed R&B beat. Fans will hear layers of spacey, atmospheric electric guitar and Shakey Graves on a rainy-day ballad driven forward by a metronomic drum pattern, and Gary Clark punctuating with fiery fretwork.

Of the album as a whole, Santo says, “I’m into the emotional concept of what a yard sale really is. This record is about the things I’ve left behind and the things I’ve held onto. I was broken up with while writing the record. I fell in love again while writing the record. And I learned to fearlessly follow my gut, in all places of my life, while making this record.”

Yard Sale track listing:
Over and Over Again
Mercy
Gold Rush
Save For Love
Bad Beast
Since I Had Your Love
Afraid Of Heights
Fall For That
Common Sense
To No End
Idiot
Island

On tour:
July 5-6 – The RIDE Festival – Telluride, CO
August 26 – Album release show @ Antone’s – Austin, TX
September 8 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
November 5 – Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT*
November 6 – Big Night Live – Boston, MA*
November 7 – Colony – Woodstock, NY
November 10 – Southern – Charlottesville, VA*
November 11 – Black Cat – Washington, DC*
November 12 – Otto Bar – Baltimore, MD*
November 13 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA*
November 14 – Grog Shop – Cleveland Heights, OH*
November 16 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL*
*with Murder By Death