Smidley shares "Murphy Horse", the title track of Conor Murphy's new album

Smidley, the project led by former Foxing frontman Conor Murphy, has released "Murphy Horse", the title track from his upcoming album. The record was announced in June and had already been previewed by "Capstone", featuring Lucy Dacus, and "Love In Every Direction".

Murphy said the song became the album title once he realized it summed up the themes he was digging into most concisely. He described feeling confused, exhausted and aimless while thinking about the future, and traced the record's reincarnation idea back to that sense of hopelessness: in this life he fails to make the art he wants to make, and in the next one he might not even know what art or music is.

"To me, there's something calming in that," Murphy said of that outlook. The music itself moves in the opposite direction from the explanation. Rather than leaning on the emo weight of Foxing, the track is bright and colorful, built around hooks and an easygoing mood.

The song comes with a video animated by Murphy alongside Steven Pitingolo. "Murphy Horse" is the third track from the album to be made public so far.