Liz Phair dropping unreleased material ahead of a tour with Sleater-Kinney is the sort of news that should be interrupting your afternoon. Pay attention.
Phair and Sleater-Kinney are heading out together on the Flannel And The Fury tour, and rather than letting the anticipation sit quietly, Phair has decided to sweeten the deal considerably. She's putting out a limited edition 7" vinyl carrying two songs that have never seen a proper release — and one of them has actually been soundtracking something you may have already heard without realising it was her.
What's Actually On The Record
Side A is "Only Love," which has served as the theme for Lena Dunham's podcast The C-Word since it launched in 2019. Dunham co-hosts the show alongside Alissa Bennett, and the podcast recently began re-releasing its back catalogue without a paywall after an Audacy distribution deal. So the song has technically been out there in the world for years — but not like this. Not on vinyl, not properly yours to own.
Side B carries a track called "Crystal Ball." Both songs have snippets floating around now if you need a preview before committing.
The Dunham connection is worth a moment of your time. Dunham is, by her own admission, an extreme Phair devotee — she told Vogue in 2018 that she once deliberately had sex in a house Phair had previously lived in. That is a level of fandom that goes well beyond putting someone on a playlist. Getting Phair to score your podcast from day one makes a lot more sense when you understand the depth of that particular obsession.
Why This Actually Matters
Limited edition vinyl tied to a tour is nothing new — bands have been doing it forever. What's different here is that these aren't outtakes or demos being flogged to completists. "Only Love" has been quietly doing its job as a podcast theme for years, which means there's an existing audience who've heard the song without ever knowing it was Liz Phair. That's a strange kind of buried treasure situation, and pressing it to a 7" is the right call.
We're also just glad she's releasing something. Unreleased material from an artist of Phair's calibre shouldn't be sitting in the background of a podcast nobody knew she'd scored. It deserves better than that, and now it's getting it.
For those who like to keep an eye on artists putting out interesting limited physical releases alongside tours, this sits alongside [Michael Nau's approach to new material](/getohedz/music/michael-nau-announces-new-album-popfly-hear-the-title-track) as a reminder that the way music gets released still has room for proper craft and occasion.
Our Take
This is a tidy piece of news that rewards the people who actually show up. If you're going to the Flannel And The Fury tour, you want this record. If you're not going, you'll wish you were. Two previously unreleased songs from Liz Phair pressed to a limited 7" is not something you shrug at — it's something you queue for. Don't sleep on it.