Remain Seated Please is the 26th solo release from Bing Futch and the satisfying conclusion to a musical trilogy that began in 2013 with Dive! That album established ongoing themes of emotional and social conflict while 2021's The Beauty and the Terror explored them further and added multiple layers of spiritual revival. The new record brings everything to a hopeful resolution.
Written and recorded over the course of four weeks, Remain Seated Please is a wild mixture of pop and Americana stylings that provide the backdrop for a remarkably upbeat depiction of everyday mental illness struggles and victories. Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder features prominently in the blues-rock opener, "ADHD Blues", anxiety dramatically figures into the plot of "I Don't Wanna Know", and medication (self or otherwise) is at the core of the raucously overdriven song, "Me Edgy."
Drawing from his own experiences, Bing focuses on the stories of people who are just doing the best they can, given the cards they're dealt. A tropical barfly laments that no one will listen to his sob stories of beach life ("The World's Smallest Violins") while a long-time patient finds comfort in the calm words of a therapist ("So We Can Love".)
Throughout the album, Bing shifts styles and instrumentation to suit the stories; lush country ballads ("State & County Roads"), Peter Gabriel-inspired dance-pop ("I Found My Peace"), and a lovingly-crafted homage to quirky pop duo, Sparks ("A Trail of Breadcrumbs"), are all on the menu.
Remain Seated Please closes out this trio of records on a positive note and hints at some exciting new musical developments in the next outing. In its nine songs of everyday life, it presents mental health awareness as a bridge to understanding, so that we can all see ourselves more clearly, both in the mirror and within each other. Includes an 8-page booklet of lyrics and a limited-edition sticker of the cover art. Listen to snippets of all nine songs below!