Heads Up

Heads Up is the third studio album by the American indie rock band Warpaint. It was released on September 23, 2016 on Rough Trade Records. Heads Up was produced by Warpaint and Jake Bercovici, who had previously worked with the band on their debut extended play, Exquisite Corpse (2008). The album was preceded by the single "New Song". Background Warpaint released its eponymous second studio album in January 2014 to generally favorable reviews. The band toured in promotion of the album until summer 2015, after which its members began separate projects. Vocalist and guitarist Emily Kokal collaborated with folk musician Paul Bergmann, contributing vocals to Bergmann's extended play Romantic Thoughts (2015); vocalist and guitarist Theresa Wayman formed a supergroup, BOSS, with Sarah Jones of Hot Chip and Guro Gikling of All We Are, and recorded material for a solo album; drummer Stella Mozgawa recorded with Kurt Vile, Cate Le Bon and Kim Gordon; and bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg released her debut solo album, Right On! (2015), on which Mozgawa also performed drums. According to Lindberg, each member's projects gave the band a "fresh perspective" when writing material for Heads Up. In an interview with NME in early 2015, Warpaint declared its original intention to release single songs over a period of time in lieu of a third studio album. Wayman explained that the process of "writing, recording, mixing, mastering, releasing, touring … it's two years dedicated to one thing. We want to do bits here and there, like back in the day when they used to make single ." Kokal added that the band's writing process had become more simplified and that when the band "agree that we're stoked about [a new song], we're done. That's a lesson we've learned—not to overanalyse". "No Way Out", a song originally intended for Warpaint, was released in February 2015 and "I'll Start Believing" was released in March; both songs, and a "redux" version of "No Way Out", were released together as a double A-side single the same month. Recording Warpaint began recording sessions for Heads Up on January 12, 2016 with producer Jake Bercovici, who had produced the band's debut EP, Exquisite Corpse (2008), and the 2015 single "No Way Out"/"I'll Start Believing". The album was recorded at House on the Hill—a studio in downtown Los Angeles, California—and Papap's Palace, with additional recording taking place at each band member's home studios.