Vinyl LP pressing. Digital download includes 18 bonus tracks. Since songwriter and band-leader Alex Schaaf first uploaded The Mistress (at age 22) to Bandcamp as a free download at the beginning of the last decade, it has captivated listeners: the team at Barsuk (who reissued it within a few months of Schaaf's initial self-release); fans who fell under the hypnotic spell of standout track "WHALE"; and a host of fellow musicians (notably including Moses Sumney, who included it on his short list of favorite albums of the 2010s, not to mention future Yellow Ostrich members Michael Tapper [Bishop Allen] and the great indie sideman and composer Jon Natchez [Beirut/The War on Drugs/David Byrne/St. Vincent/etc]). The 10th anniversary reissue of The Mistress at the start of the pandemic heralded something of a rebirth of the Yellow Ostrich moniker as the band went on to release a slew of new music over the past few years including their latest album Soft in 2021.
