Portland, Maine-based indie trio LOVE BY NUMB3RS—co-vocalists DAN CONNOR and ANNA LOMBARD and multi-instrumentalist JON ROODS—today (September 28) return with “Don’t Be So Hard On Me.” It’s the second single/video from their sophomore album EARTH NEEDS A MOON out this Friday, September 30. Produced by ROODS and LOMBARD, the album follows the acclaimed band’s November 2021 Colours EP and doesn’t repeat any of its songs. Watch the video below.

Sonically, “Don’t Be So Hard On Me” is big-sounding, soulful and rootsy, with ANNA’s gutsy and moving vocals illuminating a difficult, fractured relationship. The video, premiered September 27 by Vents Magazine, is cinematic, mysterious and evocative. The video was directed by ROODS, filmed in Industry, Maine at their friend’s barn and shot in in a deliberately distressed style, with imagery that is striking and intense. Below are quotes from ANNA about the song and video.

The “Don’t Be So Hard On Me” video follows the “Earth Needs A Moon” clip that was premiered by Glide Magazine, which noted that “the dramatic title track song and video that showers our ears with the dramatic interplay between the trio that takes listeners to a nostalgic hideout where secrets are sheltered and sins are forgotten. There is a bleeding guitar solo midway through the song as Lombard pours her fervently soulful vocals into the song’s building storyline.”

The EARTH NEEDS A MOON album is filled with haunting and evocative songs about love, devotion and more with finely etched, atmospheric settings, over which the band cast their spells. The tracks are sonically wide-open and move slowly, however confidently, and make the listener feel like they are floating in air on a journey somewhere. The album was recorded at Fisher’s Waterhouse on Peaks Island as well as the band’s South Ranch studio. EARTH NEEDS A MOON follows the band’s November 2021 Colours EP and doesn’t repeat any of its songs. This is the music of a band who freewheelingly chart a course through eloquent alternative, Americana and roots rock.