"Her Favorite Disguise" - the sophomore LP from The Melancholy Kings - has been released
New Jersey rockers The Melancholy Kings have released their second album 'Her Favorite Disguise', on the Magic Door Record Label.
It is available for limited edition 12” LP and digital purchase, and is available on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube.
The long-awaited follow up to their debut album, ‘Her Favorite Disguise’ is “an album packed with brilliant songs [and] the product of seasoned, guitar-slingers”, according to The Big Takeover.
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by renowned producer Ray Ketchem (Guided by Voices, Luna, Elk City, Gramercy Arms, Crash Harmony) at Magic Door Recording Studio in Montclair, NJ, the album features contributions by several notable guests, including famed trumpeter Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Al Jarreau, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, Hall and Oates), cellist Carolyn Jeselsohn, vocalist Reneé LoBue of Elk City, accordionist Carl Riehl (Michelle Shocked, Uncle Moon), vocalist Olivia Selig, and Ray Ketchem (Elk City) on percussion.
After a pandemic-driven hiatus following their debut album, 'Her Favorite Disguise' once again taps into the vicissitudes of life in and among the shadows of Gotham. If you miss the days of Dinosaur Jr. on 120 Minutes and the Feelies on college radio, and if you dogmatically feel that R.E.M. was at their finest when you couldn’t make out the lyrics, The Melancholy Kings are here. “It’s alright; help has arrived.”
In the lead up to this album, the band shared ''Bitcoin Elegy', a song about the inevitable decline of meaningful personal relationships in the digital age, and the latest single 'Victoria', a jangly guitar rocker resurrected and revamped from the time when the members were busy wearing down the grooves of their R.E.M., Miracle Legion and Replacements records.
'Her Favorite Disguise' both celebrates and cringes at the rich tapestry of life’s follies in the Big Apple and its homely step-sister across the Hudson, all the while rocking with a quiet intensity recalling the rough-hewn insouciance of 80s, pre-grunge alt-rock. From 'Astor Place', which recounts the too-familiar tale of suburban exodus to the Jersey promised land, to the post-modern homage of 'UV' and the lonely tale in 'New Girl' of a man hopelessly in love with a film noir siren, there is so much here.
Album Credits:
All songs by Mike Potenza except:
2 by Mike Potenza/Peter Horvath
8 by Mike Potenza/Scott Selig
9 by Robert Pollard
Published by Hamilton Publishing (BMI) © 2025 except:
2 by Hamilton Publishing (BMI)/Peter Horvath (BMI) © 2025
9 by Needmore Songs (ASCAP) © 2022
Mike Potenza – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, pedal steel, keyboards & percussion
Scott Selig – electric and upright bass, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals & percussion
Peter Horvath – lead vocals on 9, backing vocals, guitars & percussion
Paul Andrew – drums & percussion
with special guests:
Mac Gollehon – trumpet on 7 & 8
Carolyn Jeselsohn – cello on 3 & 8
Ray Ketchem – various percussion
Renée LoBue – vocals on 5
Carl Riehl – accordion on 5 & 7
Olivia Selig – vocals on 2, 4, 5 & 8
Produced by Ray Ketchem, Scott Selig and The Melancholy Kings
String arrangements by Scott Selig
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door, Montclair, NJ
Additional recording by Scott Selig at The Old Stone House, Maplewood, NJ
Cover art by Renée LoBue
Art & design by Ray Ketchem
Band photo by Sonya Selig