Taylor OhrynAugust 19, 2025hand habits, bluebird of happiness, blue reminder, fat possum, new music, indie folk, los angeles music, pappy and harriet’s pioneertown, 2220 los angeles, lagunitas brewing company petaluma, public records brooklyn, nightclub 101 new york, dc9 washington dc, lark hall albany, pop montreal, sound garage toronto, magic bag ferndale, empty bottle chicago, andy warhol museum pittsburgh, johnny brenda’s philadelphia, the chapel san francisco, mississippi studios portland, fox cabaret vancouver, tractor tavern seattle, little saint healdsburg, le trianon paris, astra kulturhaus berlin, mojo club hamburg, paradiso amsterdam, new century hall manchester, swg3 tv studio glasgow, project house leeds, roundhouse london, trinity centre bristol, national stadium dublin, japanese breakfast, perfume genius, indie rock tour 2025Comment

HAND HABITS Shares Final Single Ahead of Album Release This Friday

HAND HABITS

RELEASES “BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS”

FINAL SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM

BLUE REMINDER OUT THIS FRIDAY VIA FAT POSSUM

FALL TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED

Hand Habits releases “Bluebird of Happiness,” the final single from their forthcoming album Blue Reminder, out this Friday, August 22nd via Fat Possum Records.

"One day my partner asked what birdsong we were hearing through the window and I was like, 'well that’s the bluebird of happiness obviously,' and it became a joke song I would sing around the house, but then it grew wings." Meg Duffy explains. "I also got curious about the history of the bluebird of happiness, and found that it has mythological significance. It’s interesting how a symbol like that functions subconsciously, or in the collective unconscious. Even when we might not know everything about its origins, or when it’s almost become a pop cliche, maybe there’s some essence or a through-line that can remain true. Or the cliche itself can become material to play with. And I think because I can have an aversion to sentimentality in my songwriting, it felt exciting and fun to go there. And it does feel like such a hopeful song to me, though this bluebird has definitely seen some things, which is reflected in the production too."

Recorded in Los Angeles by Phil Hartunian with co-producer Joseph Lorge, Blue Reminder finds multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Meg Duffy, once again collaborating with an impressive coterie of musicians, including Alan Wyffels, Gregory Uhlmann, Olivia Kaplan, Blake Mills, Tim Carr, Daniel Aged, and Joshua Johnson and Anna Butterss of SML. Having spent a big part of the last decade on the road, both as a solo artist and as a touring member of Perfume Genius, Duffy’s affinity for playing live in a room with other musicians was the impetus for the record, which was largely tracked live.

The album’s previously released singles “Wheel of Change,” “Jasmine Blossoms,” and “Dead Rat” have garnered praise from outlets including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Paste, Stereogum, FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, The Needle Drop, Under The Radar, and more.

Hand Habits will be touring North America in support of Blue Reminder this fall. The tour also includes dates with Japanese Breakfast and Perfume Genius. All dates below.

LISTEN TO “BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS”

Tour Dates:

08/21 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s ~

08/23 - Los Angeles, CA @ 2220

08/25 - Petaluma, CA @ The Lagunitas Brewing Company ~

09/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records ^

09/20 - New York, NY @ Nightclub 101 &

09/21 - Washington, DC @ DC9 &

09/23 - Albany, NY @ Lark Hall &

09/24 - Montreal, QC @ POP MONTREAL

09/26 - Toronto, ON @ Sound Garage &

09/27 - Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag &

09/28 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle &

09/30 - Pittsburgh, PA @ The Andy Warhol Museum &

10/01 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's &

10/15 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel #

10/17 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #

10/18 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret #

10/21 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern #

10/23 - Healdsburg, CA @ Little Saint #

10/30 - Paris, FR @ Le Trianon *

11/03 - Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus *

11/04 - Hamburg, DE @ Mojo Club *

11/05 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *

11/07 - Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall *

11/08 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio *

11/09 - Leeds, UK @ Project House *

11/11 - London, UK @ Roundhouse *

11/12 - Bristol, UK @ Trinity Centre *

11/13 - Dublin, IE @ The National Stadium *

~ supporting Japanese Breakfast

^ with More Eaze

& with Fashion Club

# with Olivia Kaplan

* supporting Perfume Genius

For artists who have built a creative practice centered around vulnerability, what could possibly feel more exposing? For Duffy, it turns out, there are things even more daunting than excavating unhappiness or grappling with personal identity like they have in their previous critically acclaimed albums as Hand Habits.

“Of course the weight of the past is always in the room with me when I sit down to write,” Duffy explains,”It is filtered through my way of making even the most precious moments imbued with something blue — the constant reminder is there — but I have spent so much time writing as a means to work through pain, or place blame on myself or others, and I am at a point in my life where I'm more interested in acceptance, forgiveness, and exploring what it means to need and be needed.”

This collection of songs largely eschew the more insular nature of earlier Hand Habits records, instead veering into a more guitar-forward sound.Throughout the songs, guitars fuzz, drums move to the forefront, and the occasional horn or wurlitzer pass through. Everything feels elevated.

“I think it's so corny to write love songs,” admits Duffy, who is somewhat loath to think of Blue Reminder as simply a love record. “I can’t deny that a lot of these are ostensibly love songs, but they are also love songs through my very specific kind of lens. It is about how falling in love does feel both terrifying and exciting, but this record is about commitment in a lot of ways. Committing to a person, to an idea, to being a more honest version of yourself.

While Duffy doesn’t necessarily want the entire narrative around Blue Reminder to circle around romantic love, or to perhaps suggest that it’s only romantic love that allows us to be actualized or fulfilled, it does feel important to celebrate the joy of such things at a time when queer and trans people are largely being vilified. In a moment where there is so much fear and uncertainty, loudly articulating happiness and giving voice to healthy relationships feels like a profound pushback against all the darkness.

"When I reflect on how society can punish or cruelly imply a brokenness to anyone who lives in the margins of a limited range of what they consider normal, or imply they are the way they are because of a defect or illness, it's hard not to internalize some of this way of thinking. I've done a lot of work to accept myself for who I am, and that I deserve to live as the truest version of myself, and that my mistakes and shortcomings are human, not as a result of my identity. That it is possible for queer/trans people to have healthy, loving, passionate, and functional lives and relationships. That we can be in and contribute to the community. That we can be loved for, not in spite of who we are. Even though we are living a nightmare right now in a lot of ways, this record is about living the dream. It’s a reminder that the dream is possible.”