Casey Dienel – My Heart Is An Outlaw
Today Massachusetts-based songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Casey Dienel announces My Heart is an Outlaw, Dienel’s seventh album and first-ever studio-recorded release, out October 17, 2025 via Jealous Butcher Records.
My Heart is an Outlaw marks a triumphant return after eight years away. Written across several years and recorded at Altamira Sound in Los Angeles, Figure 8 Recording in New York, and Chamber of Commerce in Vermont, the album delves deep into themes of freedom, queerness, memory, and radical presence.
The record was brought to life with an impressive ensemble of collaborators: producer Adam Schatz (Japanese Breakfast, Neko Case), bassist Spencer Zahn, guitarists Carly Bond (Meernaa) and meg duffy (Hand Habits), drummer Max Jaffe, mixing engineer Jake Aron (Solange, Snail Mail), and mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Björk, Sade). Breaking from their usual DIY approach, Dienel embraced the power of the collective — an experiment in trust, connection, and openness.
The announcement is accompanied by the release of lead single “Your Girl’s Upstairs” which comes with a video directed by Alex Basco-Koch which includes behind the scenes footage of the album recording.
“Your Girl’s Upstairs” isn’t interested in apologies. It grins knowingly and keeps walking. A roadhouse reverie built on reverb, contemplative bravado, and the instantly recognizable guitar of meg duffy (Hand Habits), Dienel’s sonic daguerreotype reckons with autonomy, emotional labor, and the illusions we drag into intimacy. “The whole point of my queerness is to live within an alterity, to invent my own future on my own terms”, they explain. With the staunchness and grace of a boxer, lines like “She played house, played dead, played anything to keep your head from crying” externalize the internal battle between desire, clarity, and contradiction. “Your Girl’s Upstairs” is a gentle growl; the slice and the salve.
According to Dienel: “I’m not a domesticated creature. During lockdown, I was cruising the apps. Overnight, it felt like everyone was ENM or poly or GGG, but still playing out the most toxic hetero main character storylines. We grow up thinking marriage will insulate us from loneliness or risk, but it’s independence that’s given me a sense of inner stability.
Ultimately, I hate living with people, but I like loving on them. What’s a horny dad to do? These unreconciled contradictions inside duel it out, but none win. I am all of them: an incorrigible flirt, a romantic, a cranky homebody, and an unapologetic perv.”
Regarding the video, director Alex Basco-Koch shares: “Casey’s latest album crashes over me and permeates my whole being, like the best swim in an indie-pop-dream sea. I keep going back and soaking in it. Working together to capture the honest essence of Casey’s working and adventuring life was an absolute blast”
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