“Tough Call”—one of two tracks on a 7” EP  released November 4th, 2025—is both badass and bittersweet. It features a guitar line by Sakhe Maputo, recorded into Dessa’s iPhone in Cape Town, South Africa. (Dessa’s tour with the South African group 29:11 was cancelled earlier this year when the State Department denied the necessary visas.) It also benefits from bass master Ian Allison (if you know a bass nerd, they almost certainly know Ian), with additional production by Lazerbeak and Andy Thompson

“Camelot” is one of the few explicitly political songs in Dessa’s catalog. In 2 minutes and 53 seconds she sketches the contours of a troubling American zeitgeist, delivers a chorus that’s both haunting and catchy, and comments on the tendency of consumer culture to breed apathy (That’s the thing about the lap of luxury – the lap of luxury can’t stand up). “Camelot” calls attention to the irreconcilability of two facets of the national self-concept: a) America is a miraculous shining city on a hill; and b) the neighbors are dangerous and crazy. The song doesn’t scold or preach, which was important to Dessa who says, “I hate being lectured. I assume most listeners do too. This song doesn’t aim to teach anybody anything—I think most of us know better already. It’s about trying to rally the nerve to act on our best impulses.”