Proper. - The Great American Novel


Following 2019’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album, I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better, Proper. make their return with the new LP - The Great American Novel.

Recorded by Bartees Strange in early 2021 and mixed/mastered by Brian DiMeglio, the new record is, in the words of vocalist Erik Garlington, “a concept album about how Black genius, specifically my own, goes ignored, relentlessly contested, or just gets completely snuffed out before it can flourish. This record is a concept album that’s meant to read like a book; every song is a chapter following the protagonist through their 20s. Imagine a queer, Black Holden Caufield-type coming up in the 2010s.”

The result is an album that is both lyrically and musically heavy, the former something fans have come to expect from Garlington’s unflinchingly honest lyrical content, but the latter something that’ll be refreshingly new.

“At the end of the day, what I wanted to do with this record is take Proper. in a direction that would surprise people on first listen, but end up making complete sense on the second or third listen. I think a lot of bands tend to go more pop but I wanted to make something both challenging and undeniably catchy.”

FFO Modern Baseball, Say Anything, The Wonder Years