Everett Tea picked “long–tailed cat” as the lead single off their sophomore LP because it shows you the two extremes of where they ended up on the record.

The single came out April 17, the first of a string leading up to “smoke signals,” due July 10. It’s the second LP from the Camas, Washington emo band, and songwriter Hayden DeVore (also guitar, vocals, recording engineering on strings, and kazoo) lays out the choice in practical terms...