Chicago’s Smith Westerns have just released their dynamic new single ‘3am Spiritual from new album Soft Will, which is released on June 11. It’s been a long two years since their last LP Dye It Blonde, and judging from the progression of 3am Spiritual and first single ‘Varsity’, the evolution of their sound has led toward a more airey and vocally centralized brand of pop-rock. 3am Spiritual delivers a retrospectively brooding vocal theme whilst remaining quite upbeat and melodic, a juxtaposition which is a far cry from the bands earlier material which typically dealt with topics considerably lighter. This may not be a hands-in-the-air festival banger, but it’s an exciting and rich piece of music. Having finished up as main support for Arctic Monkeys on the Suck It and See tour, we’re crossing our fingers in the hope that we’ll see a live debut in Australia.