Michael Nau‘s “Popfly” is kissed by a warm, nostalgic glow. It is out this Friday, October 23, 2026, and today he shares the final single, “Lost Station Hideaway.” The song is inspired by an experience he had after a tree fell and destroyed his garage, forcing Nau to downsize his studio. The end result is meditative and breezy, dusted with a fine layer of Psychedelic Fuzz.
On the single, Michael Nau shares: “This is 1 (of 2) that we recorded in my attic, after the other 8 tracks from the album were finished (about a year ago), same season.
A few years back, a large oak tree near my garage came down. For a while after, every time it’d rain the garage would flood. Up to the shins. I fought it for a while, but it was comical, and I was no match. Over time the ground got a bit more used to the tree not being there, I guess, and now it only floods in a hard fast rain, and maybe only up to the toes. Either way, it got tricky to record in that garage after that.
So I sized way down to a handful of instruments that could be moved from place to place easily, & fit in a corner. Thanks to my old buddy Clint, those instruments morphed into ones that might best be used for scoring a horror film.
I always seem to write words to the meter of some old hymn, separate from any instrument. Sometimes they find one. Looking over the words to this song, I must have written them to that old meter round the time the tree came down.”
Watch the official lyric video for “Lost Station Hideaway” via the YouTube player below:
By the time Michael Nau completed “Popfly,” the songs felt less like compositions than companions. Arriving in fragments, notebook lines, and fleeting observations, these pieces kept company for years until taking their final form. The result is one of Nau‘s most openhearted, expansive records, both homespun and otherworldly at once. Radiant Folk melodies, tape-warped textures, and flashes of everyday wonder coexist in perfect balance on “Popfly.”
Nau has never been a songwriter who forces songs into existence. Instead, he follows them, trusting intuition over agenda and allowing songs to gradually reveal themselves. Writing and recording often blur together, with melodies evolving before lyrics are finished and stray recordings forming the basis for new songs. Popfly showcases these creative detours: thoughtful Folk songs, sonic experiments, and accidental beauty transformed into fully realized compositions.
Many songs began at home, growing in meaning. Since he entered the Vermont studio, Little Jamaica, with longtime friend and collaborator Benny Yurco, many of them had already lived several lives. “Studio recording feels like covering my own songs,” Nau says. This idea flows throughout: performances are lived-in, feeling effortless, as if assembling itself. The title track carries a flicker of wonder in its simple observations. “New Slack” moves with the loose confidence of a song content to follow its own path. On “Lost Station Hideaway,” soft static and fading signals become something strangely comforting, as if the song itself is being broadcast from somewhere just beyond reach.
Family and friendship are deeply woven throughout the record. Nau‘s children contribute vocals, bringing warmth and spontaneity to the album’s communal spirit, with longtime collaborator and wife Whitney McGraw lending her serene voice. The harmonies that drift from them extend the album’s central impulse of people gathering to make something beautiful.
Across “Popfly,” loose-limbed folk songs mingle with homespun Psych-Pop, porchside Country-Folk, dreamlike atmospherics, and quietly profound observations. The record moves with the ease of conversation among old friends, finding beauty in tiny revelations, strange coincidences, and everyday mysteries. The record is full of transmissions from different moments in Nau‘s life, stitched together by instinct, affection, and time. Taken together, they form a portrait of a life spent paying close attention to the world and its small miracles.
Pre-Order “Popfly” on Bandcamp: https://michaelnau.bandcamp.com/album/popfly
Tracklist:
01. ost Station Hideaway
02. Hi Beam
03. Popfly
04. Both Ends
05. New Slack
06. First Drip
07. Jump Up
08. And Welcome Back
09. Even So
10. Paper And Glue
Credits:
Michael Nau / Vocals, Keys, Drums, Guitar, etc.
Benny Yurco / Bass, Guitar on “Welcome…“
Whitney McGraw / Vocals
Oliver Nau / Sax and Vocals
Beatrice Nau / Vocals
Graeme Gibson / Drums on “Lost Station…” and Additional Percussion
Zack James / Drums on “Hi Beam” and “Welcome…“
Songs by M. Nau
Artwork by M+WV