Frog release final single ‘Sax-A-Ma-Phone Var XII’ ahead of new album The Count
Indie rock duo Frog have unveiled their latest single ‘Sax-A-Ma-Phone Var. XII,’ the final preview of their upcoming album The Count, due September 19 via Tapewormies and Audio Antihero. The track arrives just weeks before the band embarks on their October tour, which includes sold-out dates in Chicago.
Originally debuted during Frog’s KEXP session, ‘Sax-A-Ma-Phone Var. XII’ leans into lusty, R&B-inspired tones while showcasing the band’s signature blend of humor, grit, and raw emotion. The new single is the third release from The Count, following ‘Bitten By My Love Var. XI’ and ‘Spanish Armada Var. XV.’ The record sees Daniel Bateman and his brother Steve exploring ten variations of sound, a continuation of their February release 1000 Variations on the Same Song.
On the concept behind The Count, Daniel Bateman shared:
“In late August of ’25, a peculiar man known only as THE COUNT began to appear at various locales throughout the New York metropolitan area, drinking heavily and raving about various offscreen women. He was tall, skinny, but muscular in a way that only comes from manual labor, and he wore J. Crew slacks with a wife-beater. If you were in his presence, even if only for a moment, you could feel the power that hid behind his dark eyes, eyes that would stare out at you like deep oceans of hazel and blue, beckoning. He was intensely aware of the presence of every woman within a 2-square-block radius and made a lasting impression on all of them that they didn’t completely understand. He was like a black hole that curved all of space, where the trajectory of every object that passed near him wavered and became blurry. He was the kind of man, in short, that you could stare at for ages, if only he wouldn’t stare back. But the Count always stared back.”
With ‘Sax-A-Ma-Phone Var. XII,’ Frog highlight their ability to craft songs that are both off-kilter and emotionally resonant, a balance that has made them one of indie rock’s most unpredictable and exciting bands. The single sets the stage for The Count, a record that promises to be louder, bolder, and stranger than anything they’ve released before. Fans can catch Frog live this fall with dates beginning September 13th in Middleburt, Vermont and wrapping November 13 in Brooklyn.
‘Sax-A-Ma-Phone Var. XII’ is out now on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and all major streaming platforms. The Count arrives September 19.
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