Washington DC ethereal goth/rock band Strange Boutique is back with their first album in 31 years. Let The Lonely Heart Sing will be released on 10th June via The Circle Music and Boutique Things.
Ahead of that and out now, the band has dropped a new video-exclusive song ‘Radium Kiss’ that you can check out here at RAMzine.
The album artwork features a cicada, a choice deeply meaningful to the band, as Monica Richards explained: “I can’t tell you how excited I am for the new Strange Boutique album! I designed the cover as a mystical array surrounding a cicada. The cicada has long been known as a symbol of resurrection and transformation due to its fascinating life cycle. As a Washington DC band, we were very attuned to the cicada every Summer, as well as the 17-year cicadas, when the trees of DC would be filled with their ghostly sounds. This also blends perfectly with the title ‘Let the Lonely Heart Sing’, which is a lyric in one of our songs. Steve Willet and I feel it is the perfect symbol for a new album cover to show that Strange Boutique is back!”
Let The Lonely Heart Sing will be available in transparent marbled turquoise & black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, splatter purple & black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, and digi-CD with booklet and digitally – You can order it here.
Since their heyday in the early 90s underground scene, Strange Boutique has cultivated a revered status within the goth/rock and post-punk communities. Known for their unique blend of powerful, guitar-driven ethereal pop infused with world music influences and mystical imagination, the band was a beloved fixture of the DC club scene from 1987 to their bittersweet farewell show at the original Black Cat DC in November 1993.
While frontwoman Monica Richardswent on to achieve further acclaim with the goth band Faith And The Muse, interest in Strange Boutique never truly waned. Their three albums – The Loved One (1991), Charm (1993) and The Kindest Worlds (1994) – continued to resonate with fans, with their most beloved track ‘Drown’ from The Loved One achieving viral success in recent years, amassing over seven million streams on Spotify and over 10 million across all platforms.
The seeds of Strange Boutique’s return were sown after the tragic murder of their seminal guitarist Fred ‘Freak’ Smith in 2017. This event brought Monica Richards and bassist Steve Willett back together, leading to a sold-out reunion show in Fred’s honour at the DC Black Cat in 2019. Guitar duties were flawlessly handled by Dennis Kane, a friend and protégé of Smith’s. The energy of that night sparked a renewed creative fire, and new songs began to take shape.
Now, as the post-punk and goth/rock resurgence gains momentum, Strange Boutique is poised to attract a new generation alongside their devoted fanbase. Let The Lonely Heart Sing is said to be “a mesmerising collection of original guitar-driven tracks that delve into ghostly themes of love and loss, childlike wonder, echoes of the past, and a hopeful gaze towards the future”. The album showcases the band’s evolution while staying true to their signature ethereal and dark wave sound.
The album also features the breathtaking addition of a live string quartet on three tracks. While Steve Willett spearheaded the creative direction of the album, Dennis Kane contributed the closing track and his signature guitar work throughout.
Strange Boutique will celebrate the release of Let The Lonely Heart Sing with a special live performance at the Black Cat in Washington DC on 12th July 2025.
Strange Boutique has previously released the new tracks ‘The Night Birds’ and ‘Jet Stream’.
