Austin indie-pop duo Dorio today release their new singles, “Perfect Angel” and “Chasing Agent Friday,” the title tracks from their forthcoming fourth album, Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel, arriving July 24 via Earth Libraries. The release marks the official introduction to the record’s cinematic universe while launching the band’s North American summer tour.
Equal parts infectious pop record and psychological character study, Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel blends shimmering electronic production, guitar-driven indie pop, lounge textures, breakbeats, and Y2K-inspired songwriting into an imaginative story of alter egos, pursuit, perfectionism, and identity. Across eleven tracks, Dorio creates a glamorous spy-thriller backdrop that ultimately reveals deeply personal reflections on anxiety, self-expectation, and personal growth.
The album’s concept emerged organically when songwriting partners Rachel Rascoe and Chad Doriocourt independently wrote two songs—”Perfect Angel” and “Chasing Agent Friday”—without realizing they were exploring opposite sides of the same emotional experience. Those songs became the foundation for the entire record, introducing two fictional characters whose stories weave throughout the album before ultimately converging.
While the album embraces fantasy through espionage imagery and cinematic storytelling, its emotional center is rooted in the duo’s own lives.
For Rascoe, “Perfect Angel” was born from the pressure of balancing multiple creative pursuits while adjusting to a new chapter as an independent artist. The song transforms perfectionism into an unattainable alter ego—a version of herself that always seems just out of reach.
“While we were working on the album, I was trying to balance multiple projects and being too rigid about my time. I felt like I should be able to do more. That’s where this super-idealized form, the Perfect Angel, came from. It’s based on my own interests, but I can never reach it.” — Rachel Rascoe on “Perfect Angel”
Doriocourt’s “Chasing Agent Friday” explores a different internal struggle. Inspired by his experience living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the song reimagines intrusive thoughts as a mysterious secret agent who is constantly being pursued. Rather than relying on familiar stereotypes about OCD, the song reflects the often invisible mental conflict behind the condition and the realization that the enemy being chased may actually be part of oneself.
“For a lot of people with OCD, it’s all in your head. It’s not just about being obsessed with cleaning your room or something,” says Doriocourt. “People perceived me as this happy-go-lucky person, but I always felt like a different person inside of my head, and that’s like the Agent Friday character. You chase it away, but then you realize that it was you all along. Through going to therapy, I realized I was fighting these two sides of myself. The two characters are the same.” — Chad Doriocourt on “Chasing Agent Friday”
Musically, Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel is Dorio’s most expansive work to date. Fusing sleek electronic production with live instrumentation, the record draws inspiration from late-’90s and early-2000s dance-pop, lounge revival, alternative rock, and classic film scores. Bright vocal melodies float over distorted guitars, monophonic synthesizers, sampled textures, and propulsive rhythms, creating songs that are equally suited for close listening and packed dance floors.
Recorded primarily in the duo’s Austin home studio, the album features live drums from CJ Eliasen throughout and harmonium by Sowmya Somanath (Plume Girl) on “Perfect Angel.” Continuing their partnership with Earth Libraries, Dorio pushes its signature sound into even more adventurous territory while maintaining the concise, hook-driven songwriting that has become the band’s hallmark.
The visual world surrounding the album is just as ambitious. A series of videos directed by Nick Stoner introduces a cast of spies, detectives, doubles, and mysterious figures, extending the album’s themes beyond the music. Together, the songs and visuals create an interconnected universe where glamour, paranoia, romance, and self-discovery unfold through stylized storytelling inspired by classic espionage cinema.
The new album arrives following 2025’s Super Love 3 and builds on the momentum of recent performances alongside L’Impératrice, Pearl & the Oysters, and Peel Dream Magazine. Those live shows helped shape the more energetic direction of the new material, encouraging the band to lean further into dance rhythms without sacrificing the intimacy and emotional nuance that define their songwriting.
With “Perfect Angel” and “Chasing Agent Friday,” Dorio offers listeners the first glimpse into what is easily the band’s most fully realized artistic statement—a record where polished pop craftsmanship meets imaginative world-building and deeply personal storytelling. Behind every chase scene, disguise, and larger-than-life character lies a meditation on the parts of ourselves we try to outrun, idealize, or ultimately learn to embrace.
Dorio 2026 Summer Tour – North American Dates
7/13 Denton, TX Rubber Gloves
7/14 Tulsa, OK Thelma’s Peach
7/15 Kansas City, MO The Farewell
7/16 St. Louis, MO The Sinkhole
7/17 Milwaukee, WI Bremen Cafe
7/18 Minneapolis, MN Zhora Darling
7/19 Chicago, IL Cole’s Bar
7/20 Windsor, ON, CA Meteor
7/21 Toronto, ON, CA Dina’s Tavern
7/23 Providence, RI AS220
7/24 Boston, MA O’Brien’s Pub
7/26 NYC, NY Night Club 101
7/28 Indianapolis, IN State Street Pub
7/29 Nashville DRKMTTR
7/30 Birmingham, AL Saturn
7/31 Athens, GA Flicker Theatre
8/1 Atlanta, GA TBA
8/2 New Orleans, LA TBA
