We talk to Monsieur Herr about his playful pop sound, described as “The Beatles with weird lyrics,” which has grown from uncertainty into a clear creative direction. His upcoming album Buying Into the Hype, featuring the nostalgic yet critical single “Uranium Glass,” drops July 18 and reflects on society’s tendency to romanticize the past.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
I think John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants fairly recently coined “The Beatles with weird lyrics,” so I’ll be stealing that.
How has your sound evolved since you first started making music?
The pithy answer, I suppose, would be that I just gradually began to figure out what it was I really wanted to do, starting from the baseline of not quite knowing and working my way up to knowing. I’ve long admired my friend Max’s (that’s Zhir Vengersky for you hepcats out there; “Farewell, My Lovely” available now) consistent clarity of intent, whereas I’ve tended to be a bit more scattershot in some ways. Nowadays I feel I have a very clear direction.
What’s a bizarre or unexpected inspiration behind one of your songs?
Those in Massachusetts (hi, Chloe) might know the “don’t put mercury in the trash” commercial jingle. I was over there recently (hi again, Chloe) and heard that on the radio, and it just made me stupidly happy. I was so pleased by it. I knew one day I would have to write a song about it. That became the B-side to the “Uranium Glass” single, “Where They Put Mercury in the Trash.” I like it so much, I’m probably going to stick it on my next album. If the Beach Boys can re-use “Little Deuce Coupe” and “409,” then by golly, I can re-use my song.
What’s the most memorable moment of your music career so far?
My sister got me a shamrock suit for my birthday one year. I think it was 2022. My life hasn’t been the same since.
Tell us all you can about your latest release and where and when to find it?
“Uranium Glass” is kind of a rumination on people’s tendency to pine for some imagined past. I liked uranium glass as a symbol for that kind of nostalgia. It’s very of the zeitgeist, I like to think, despite how reliant the music itself is on the post-Beatles variety of the pop music form. Things are very bleak, I suppose, so a lot of people look to the past. Not that I blame people for searching, but I don’t think there’s any such thing as “the good old days,” and that’s the kind of thinking I’m going after on this song. It’s going to be on my upcoming album, “Buying Into the Hype,” which releases on July 18th of this year, as opposed to next year or the year prior. Get it on Bandcamp because then I’ll actually make money. Stream it on Spotify or some other streaming place, too, even if all my hard-earned fractions of cents will go to Taylor Swift instead of me. You know the drill, folks.