Track Of The Day: Spurge feat. Bri Foxx – ‘Why Would You?’

Having met in the Atlanta underground scene, queer feminist artists Bri Foxx and Jen Hodges decided to join forces after playing a show together in their respective bands. And now, we’re super excited to share the outcome of their collaboration – Spurge‘s catchy new single!

A song that carries the weight of failed relationships in its core, ‘Why Would You?‘ has a simple but relatable premise. The track as a whole is executed in a way that takes the familiar stab of heartache and draws out the raw and powerful emotions within.

The song reflects on relationships, written from a healthier place. The lyrics juxtapose a heartbroken chorus against wiser, more contemplative verses which creates a moving narrative – a story of growth following pain, only to revisit that same sorrow with another person later on. The fact that the separate sections were written during very different emotional times in the writer’s life is evident in the rich texture of the song. It makes for a more powerful piece that encapsulates the moments of pain in the context of a positive, hopeful journey. There is a cycle to it, but one that delicately balances the resignation to start over with a great sense of hope that next time will be the one.

The vocals pair elegantly with the feeling in the lyrics. You can really feel the rawness and the power in the lead line, whilst backing vocals lend weight to the emotional high points in the track – the hardest parts of the conversation that herald the end of a relationship. Every never and don’t go and why would you feels ripped from the moment.

This is bolstered by instruments that flow together really well. The string lines running through the track are playful and catchy, ramping up into very fun interludes that give the song a lot of energy.

‘Why Would You?’ ends with the lead vocal, alone, holding one final, powerful note. It clings to that emotional feeling down to the very last beats, lingering like the memory of an old love.

‘Why Would You?’ is accompanied by a gritty live video, directed by Tyree Smith and Daniel Medina. Watch it here:

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

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ALBUM: Boy Harsher – ‘The Runner’

On their new album The Runner, Boy Harsher expand the remit of their work, situating their signature dark electro-pop amid a set of alternative avenues implied, but unexplored in their earlier offerings. It comes in part as a response to the domestic setting imposed over the Covid years, which took away the natural context for the creation of what they refer to as “club music”. The process going into the project also served as a form of catharsis for the duo in the face of their own personal struggles, with Jae Matthews’ MS diagnosis in particular being cited by the group in discussing the release.

The 28-minute album is framed as a soundtrack to an accompanying short film created by the band. Under the proudly displayed banner of an Official Soundtrack, the duo lean into the sense of drama and shadow created by their music. Opener ‘Tower’ sets out the stall, with ribbons of synth pulse, heartbreakingly unravelling around the mantra ‘you don’t want to know me,’ before eventually exploding into an epic, howling climax. Other tracks like the closing pair ‘Untitled’ and ‘I Understand’ offer time for the listener to breathe and create a sense of narrative within the music, even in isolation from its intended visual accompaniment.

The form also provides a context for excursions into a range of genres, which gives the album the pace of jukebox soundtracks like Morvern Callar and Jubilee (the latter evidently a key influence on the film itself, as the recently released ‘Machina’ section shows.) This effect is heightened by the inclusion of other voices to Matthews on the album, which furthers its dynamic range. Alongside alternately danceable and ambient tracks credited solely to Boy Harsher are features from Mariana Saldaña on ‘Machina’, a robot rock floor-filler, and Cooper B. Handy (aka Lucy) on the antiheroic anthem ‘Autonomy’, a great would-be retro-futuristic pop tune made unique by their distinctive voice and its spartan production treatment.

The unusual conceptual approach to this album makes for a compelling and refreshingly various collection of songs. In spite of its brevity, we find ourselves on a genuinely cinematic journey across these 8 tracks. Perhaps what is most impressive is its assimilation of this new range of sounds and the voices of other artists into something that still feels distinctively like a Boy Harsher release, an impressive feat given the difference in approach and context for its creation. In creating The Runner universe, complete with the motion picture, the duo have managed to craft a world for their music to inhabit in the absence of its natural real-life context.

Boy Harsher’s new album The Runner is released on 21st Jan via Nude Club/City Slang

Follow Boy Harsher on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Photo Credit: Jordan Hemmingway

Lloyd Bolton

@franklloydwleft
@lloyd_bolton

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Track Of The Day: Pearly – ‘Silver Behind The Mirror’

An agitated, sultry dose of cinematic heavy rock, Ohio-based trio Pearly have shared their latest single ‘Silver Behind The Mirror’. Taken from their upcoming album Silver of The Mirror, which is set for release on 11th February via Eto Ano Recordings, the track is a smouldering slice of “stoner rock” that heaves with heady desire.

Formed of Josie Yeager, Austyn Benyak and Dalton Edwards, Pearly are inspired by an eclectic range of influences, including the aesthetics of David Lynch’s films as well as the music of TOPS and Nine Inch Nails. Together, they create a mixture of soft indie rock tunes and swaggering, aggressive dance rock, with new single ‘Silver Behind The Mirror’ flowing in the vein of the latter. Full of ​​Yeager’s yearning vocals, Benyak’s angsty guitars and Edwards’ brooding beats, the track is an angsty, smouldering invitation into Pearly’s dark, but inviting musical world.

“Sonically, the track was heavily inspired by Lou Reed’s rendition of ‘This Magic Moment in the movie Lost Highway,” the band explain about their new single. “The low, rumbly guitars that the song starts with and lay underneath the song feel evil and I remember hearing it and thinking that it sounded exactly like a motorcycle. But it’s so so sad. The feeling that song gave us when we first heard it placed us right into the world of evil and sunny LA in Lost Highway. Lyrically, this song is about living in an atrocious mess all the while being incredibly ambitious.”

Whilst on the surface, Pearly’s sound may appear serious and heavy, the band want to blend their angsty aesthetics with their ordinary desire to cut loose and enjoy life’s more playful moments. This attitude underscores their previous single ‘Julianne Moore‘, their latest track, and the songs on their upcoming album too.

Listen to ‘Silver Behind The Mirror’ below.

Follow Pearly on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Sunflower Thieves – ‘I Don’t Know Why’

A gentle reflection on the disarming realisation that your connection with someone you love is off kilter, despite your best efforts, Leeds-based dream-folk duo Sunflower Thieves have shared their latest single ‘I Don’t Know Why’.

Combining charming vocal harmonies and soft guitars to create their delicate pop-folk sounds, Sunflower Thieves write tunes inspired by personal narratives and nostalgia. Their musical creations have blossomed out of a sixteen year long friendship between band members Amy and Lily, and their single ‘I Don’t Know Why’ is another tender offering rooted in a desire to understand the gaps in communication that can happen in any relationship.

“The track is about how complicated close relationships can be. How the differences in the way we live our lives and follow what we think can affect our understanding of each other, and equally of ourselves,” the duo explain about ‘I Don’t Know Why’. Through their earnest lyrics, tentative guitar picks and soft beats, the pair navigate this emotional grey area with tact and compassion.

The single is also accompanied by a visualiser, full of natural, tranquil scenes of the world going by on and around a canal, fitting with the sonic peacefulness, introspective lyrics and steady pace of the track. The pair are set to to release their new EP this year, featuring previous single ‘Sirens’ and this new offering too.

Listen to ‘I Don’t Know Why’ below.

Follow Sunflower Thieves on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook
for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sophie Jouvenaar

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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