Now, Now is back … now. Five years ago, the Minneapolis band released Threads, the kind of record that left us wanting more. Then — silence. Emotionally exhausted from tours and wracked by creative starvation, KC Dalager and Brad Hale put Now, Now on hold as they sought different outlets in producing and songwriting for other artists. Jess Abbott, who’d joined the band as a fan (literally moving from Maine to Minnesota), continued her project called Tancred, which soon blossomed and took on a life of its own. Today’s return, however, comes with the news that Abbott has amicably parted ways with Now, Now.

    Dalager and Hale began Now, Now as teenagers in marching band, and come full circle as a duo once again. While they’re still working on the follow-up to Threads, they are back with “SGL,” a heart-throbbing pop song with a new feel.

    The elements are familiar: a clipped acoustic guitar progression, subtle vocal manipulation and slowly-building layers of atmospheric guitar effects. But when the drums kick in and Dalager teases, “Pick it up, baby, if we’re moving too slow,” you realize the person who once tentatively compared a relationship to a “needle dragging thread” has come right out and called somebody “baby.” If Dalager’s open insecurities wove throughout Threads, “SGL” rips them out. This is where Dalager boldly, yet still vulnerably, makes a move past shotgun love (“SGL”), to put the heat on a fling and make it real.

    It’s nice to have them back. As always, the song is enjoyable and makes you feel. Something a good song SHOULD do. It’s exciting to see where this new music will take them!