Flipping through photo book Protest Grim Reapers, Sadie Dupuis—guitarist and songwriter of lauded rockers Speedy Ortiz, who also produces electropop as Sad13—was struck by the versatility of Death. The cloak and scythe on a picket line looked grave but uncanny, even comic. Online, on tour, she saw deathly dissonance everywhere:  in ”journalistic doublespeak, politeness politics, and Big Tech’s censorship,” she elaborates. 1331, Sad13’s bubbling new suite, reports on mortality and duality; it expands Dupuis’s diverse discography with ambitious, otherworldly home recordings in the surreal spirit of the reaper she painted as cover art.

1331 is a mixtape, a framing Dupuis found vital, as it takes the form of a sixteen-minute collage of thirteen brief-but-dense tracks. Though it’s her solo project, Sad13 pursuits often follow collaborations; 2016 glitter-pop debut Slugger came after co-writes with Lizzo, while 2020’s maximalist Haunted Painting spotlit teamwork with other women engineers, like Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties) and Maryam Qudus (Spacemoth). 1331’s spark was comedian Jamie Loftus’s Sixteenth Minute, one of several podcast themes Dupuis has scored. “I obsess over short songs—jingles, interludes, anything truncated that rewards more listens,” she says. “It’s addicting when hooks switch quickly and barely retread.” She cherishes this form’s experts: Guided By Voices, Tierra Whack, her former tourmate Mitski.

1331 melds mindsets and melodies across time: whimsical fun amid noisy fury, sophisticated balance shaping wild catharsis. It’s concise, delightfully weird music, a catchy rush that’s distinctly Sad13. Much like a grim reaper at a march, 1331 calls out foes in a winking costume, all with hope for future joy. Sixteen minutes of poignant music is a great place to start, and if that’s not long enough? “You can always hit repeat,” offers Dupuis.