The New Pornographers have shared the digital release of their 2025 vinyl-only single “Ballad of the Last Payphone.” The track was the A-side to the single “Ego Death for Beginners,” with both cuts marking the band’s first new songs since 2023. “Ballad of the Last Payphone” arrives with an animated video by Michael Arthur. Check it out below.
“Ballad of the Last Payphone” is an homage to the last existing payphone in New York City. The band’s A.C. Newman said in press materials: “This song was inspired by a Raymond Carver story called ‘Fat,’ and tells the story of a person visiting the last payphone in NYC where it currently sits, in the Museum of the City of New York. The narrator doesn’t know why they are so fascinated by it, but to us it should be obvious. Obvious to me, at least.”
There are still limited quantities of the hand-numbered “Ballad of the Last Payphone”/Ego Death For Beginners” 7″. The vinyl single is available to Vinyl Club tier members of Newman’s Substack.
The New Pornographers released their most recent album Continue as a Guest in 2023.
