#the opening riff of this song plays in my head constantly

[oysterspearl]

happy 25th birthday to the best screamo album of all time

[cherrylng]

Matthew Bellamy Interview - Muse [CROSSBEAT (November 2009)]

The Resistance Goes On MUSE First cover story! In-depth look at the new album and its trajectory!

"I think this album represents the way the MP3 generation listens to music, because it's so fickle and inconsistent."

When you think of Muse, there's bound to be a 'Muse verse' that rings in everyone's head. What's great about them is that they never betray that 'Muse verse', but constantly update it with fresh and innovative ideas. There is always a Muse that you like and expect in each new album, but there is also a Muse that surpasses it. That is their greatest strength. With "Black Holes and Revelations" in 2006 and "HAARP", which is a condensed version of their appeal, they are finally showing signs of a big breakthrough here in Japan, and with their new album "The Resistance", which is also self-produced, their appeal is like a fireworks display. This issue of the magazine is the fastest in Japan to feature Muse on the cover, and will thoroughly dissect their appeal with interviews and articles on their material! And for the first time ever, the supplement "MUSE BOOK" provides a comprehensive look at all the interviews from the past! Muse, the eye of the typhoon in the scene in the second half of 2009, will be pushed all the way!

Text: Hidefumi Harima / Interview: James Nicholas Joyce / Translation: Sumi Imai © James Nicholas Joyce/IFA

Muse were, after all, a tremendous band. On their new album "The Resistance", the most anticipated album in the band's history, they have delivered an unmistakable "Muse-esque" sound with intensely emotional melodies, a sound that swings from static to dynamic, lyrics that present grandiose images, and Matthew Bellamy's full-bodied vocals that carry them through. The band has successfully sublimated to the next level of "Muse-ness" by maintaining the "Muse-ness" while challenging various new things so that it does not end up sounding the same as it has in the past. In fact, when I first heard the album, I felt like it didn't have any killer tunes like "Plug in Baby", "Stockholm Syndrome", or "Knights of Cydonia". But I realised on the second listen that it was just the lack of strong, fast guitar riffs, but the melodies, hooks, sounds, and beats were all full of elements that grabbed the listener firmly. There were so many elements that were firmly etched in my memory, even though it was only the second time I'd heard it. And yet, every time I listened to it, it felt fresh. This is an album that will definitely satisfy previous Muse fans, and will definitely blow away new listeners.

Take the grandly titled "United States of Eurasia". The song opens with a graceful piano, followed by Matthew's restrained tone, and then a thick chorus straight from Queen ("legendary champion"!) cuts in, and before you know it, the Arabic phrases are flowing. Immediately after the climactic big part, Chopin's "Nocturne" is played over a background of children's voices, jet fighter engines, and what sounds like communication with the ground, bringing the song to an end, before the next moving and beautiful part of the song, "Guiding Light", is played. The band's ability to combine so many elements into a single song with a natural flow is something no half-baked band could ever hope to achieve.

The whole structure of the album consists of an opening with a fun, thumping rhythm, leading up to a synth-heavy section of "Undisclosed Desires", the big song "United States of Eurasia" and its continuation "Guiding Light" (reminiscent of Presley's "I Can’t Stop Loving You"), the solid, fast rock number "Unnatural Selection" that could only come from Muse, followed by "MK Ultra", a bluesy/classical duality that calms down and leads into the final chapter. The trilogy of "Exogenesis Symphony", which boldly incorporates orchestral elements, carries on in a perfect flow with a significant change in musicality.

After all this, there was no moment when I personally felt astonished or bewildered when I first heard the album. Rather, I must have listened to it with a grin on my face, thinking "Oh my God, they're doing whatever they want". And sometimes I even laughed out loud. (It was a trial listening session where everyone listened with headphones, so I was lucky that no one noticed……). In other words, Muse's openness has been there for a long time, and it is not at all surprising that Muse would do a symphony, slap bass, and use a pipe organ or clarinet. I'm sure they did this because they were self-produced and, in a sense, 'unstoppable' (in a good way), which means they put everything they had into it in a total package.

Where will they go next after this? With their unchanging core and sincere inquisitiveness for music, Muse can always continue to grow, shedding their skin while still remaining being Muse. There is no doubt about that. Still, where is the snare sound that Dom (Dominic Howard: Dr) was seen in the pre-released teaser video, strumming while listening to the clicks on his mobile phone (probably) with a flock of sheep in the background in a wide meadow? (laughs). I'd like to examine that carefully from now on. And of course, I can't wait to see what kind of show I'll be able to see next time.

"Thom Yorke once said something like this: 'We're run like the United Nations. But my position in that is the US.' I can relate to it a lot."

When interviewing Muse, journalists always interview all three members separately, rather than meeting and talking to just one of them, which is a unique approach, isn't it? How did this happen? 「When the three of us were being interviewed together, they [the journalists] would often direct questions to me personally. And I'm pretty quick at answering. And Chris (Wolstenholme: B) would get left behind, and he'd be like, "What the hell am I doing here?" But then I thought it would be better to communicate the idea of the band as a whole, rather than just me doing the promotion on my own. When it comes to the sound-making process and the arrangement of the songs, it's actually very democratic. Songwriting is undemocratic. Thom Yorke of Radiohead once said: 'We (Radiohead) are run like the United Nations. But my position in it is the US. It's an interesting analogy. I can relate to it a lot. Our other two members are not as confident as I am when it comes to songwriting. They're very shy [when it comes to songwriting]. But I'm always encouraging them to write songs and I want to open up new avenues. Chris gives me all sorts of ideas that he has and asks me to finish them. But I'd rather he finish them himself. That way he can feel more like it's his own song. So I'd say we're a very democratic band, but at the moment we're quite dictatorial when it comes to songwriting (laughs). But I rely on both of them to help me sift through all the ideas. Because sometimes I come up with ideas that don't really fit with Muse or aren't very cool. And they help me sift through all those ideas and they end up being just right.」

Can you give us some examples of "not so cool ideas" that you've come up with? 「When we were working on the last album, I wrote a song called 'Soaked', which sounds like an Elton John song. It's like an 80s number, like 'Nikita' or something like that. Our publisher says it's Adam Lambert-esque. He's a male singer who was runner-up on American Idol (an audition programme aired on US television), which means it was that kind of music. I want to write songs in a variety of genres, whether it's classical or pop. But there's a clear line in Muse that I'm not allowed to cross, and as a songwriter I sometimes step over it. So, with Chris and Dom's help, I can clarify those boundaries. The last three songs on The Resistance are the ones I've been trying to push for the last two years. But it wasn't until I added bass and drums that they really started to sound like a real band, and I'd say they're songs worthy of Muse. Dom and Chris have helped me tremendously in that respect. They added beats and rearranged things that had been more freeform in terms of speed, and it became a Muse song. There are always different genres of music around me. It can be more abstract or classical. When I'm working on Muse, it's not just the goofy songwriting that I try to keep aside.」

"The first part of this album is about 'political unrest', which is a bit influenced by the opposition protests that have been happening in the UK recently."

Black Holes and Revelations was influenced in part by the Neapolitan folk songs you were listening to at the time of recording. But there's a curious lack of that influence in 'The Resistance'. Why did that kind of music drop out during the process? 「I think if there's something you're exposed to in your day-to-day life in the months before you start making an album, whatever it is, people naturally absorb it. Originally we wanted to start working on this album earlier. It ended up being delayed until now. We first started thinking about actually recording something last January. But then we got a couple of offers to tour. One was in South America. Then we did a couple of shows in Dubai [United Arab Emirates] and South Africa, and a couple of shows in England. We ended up staying in Dubai for four or five days. I remember listening to all sorts of things, especially the music on the radio in the taxi. You can hear those influences in the middle section of "United States of Eurasia". I think people absorb different things as they go through different stages in their lives. It means that it sparks an interest in something different from what they were used to. In addition to that, the MP3 generation is very used to listening to a wide variety of music from different genres, eras and styles, in no particular order, in the same row. I think our album represents that way of listening to music. It's very fickle and inconsistent. Another key thing was that we recorded part of the last album in a studio in Milan. There I met a string arranger called Mauro Pagani. He was the one who introduced me to the music of southern Italy. This time I didn't get to meet him, because I'm arranging the strings myself. So maybe that made me less influenced by those things. But this time I made a conscious effort to reintroduce some classical sounds, and I also wanted to experiment a bit with electronica. Well, it only ended up settling in the song "Undisclosed Desires". There was a time when "Uprising" was going to be more electronic. But in the end, we ended up with a more live, glam, guitar-oriented version. I thought it sounded a bit more modern that way.」

Of all the current British bands, Muse in particular seem to be the closest to continental Europe, both melodically and aesthetically. You are based in Italy, and have built a studio in Como (A city in northern Italy, famous for its scenic Lake Como). Where does this affinity for the European continent come from? 「Ah, that's a good question, because it's difficult to answer. It probably has something to do with the history of music. Most classical music was born in Europe. Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland, all these countries have produced many great composers in their history. So I think my appreciation of European music came from my interest in classical music. But also, interestingly enough, a lot of the music that we were into as boys was by bands from Belgium and the Netherlands. Deus, for example, or Evil Superstars. Or, if we're talking about younger bands, like Millionaire. I personally always thought that European bands had a more creative and futuristic approach to rock. There's great stuff in American music, but what we were aiming for was something different and individual, and we found more of that individuality in European music.」

Regarding classical music, "Exogenesis" is placed at the end of the album. Would the three-movement symphony have worked better if you had divided it into three parts and placed them separately throughout the album, instead of putting them together at the end of the album? 「Maybe in concerts we'll get creative and incorporate things into the set. For example, you could play part one first, then part two in the middle of the show, and part three towards the end of the show. If you listen to them all at once, you'll probably get a bit full. But for the recording, I wanted to record the orchestral part all at once, for 13 minutes straight. Because we wanted to capture the whole sound in there, including the in-between sounds, the 'sound' of a lot of people not doing anything. We wanted that kind of continuity. The feeling of a breather before moving from one thing to the next.」

On a completely different note, the beginning of the album develops a George Orwellian theme. That's not reflected in 'Exogenesis', though. 「Musically, lyrically and conceptually, that part is certainly quite different from the rest of the album. At one point we were even talking about not including that part on the album and releasing it as a separate, independent EP. The first part of the album stands on its own as a separate thing and is about 'political unrest'. It's a bit influenced by the recent protests in the UK. I've also been influenced by the G20 summit, the parliamentary scandals, the economic crisis and of course the anti-war protests that have been going on for years now. My flat in London is very close to the US Embassy, so almost every weekend I look out the window and see demonstrations going on. That's what really struck me. So the first part of the album is like a love story that emerged from the current political unrest. There are quite a lot of similarities with '1984' (George Orwell's futuristic novel about the inhumanity of a totalitarian state under a one-party dictatorship). Before I started working on the album, I went back and read '1984'. So I put the love story between Winston (Smith: the protagonist of 1984) and Julia (Winston's girlfriend) at the centre. When I was in doubt about the lyrics, I used '1984' as a reference. Not all of the songs are about that, but the song "Resistance" is. There are terms like 'Thought Police' (the police force in '1984') and things like that.」

Muse are not generally regarded as a political band, are they? For your part, are you okay with being perceived as such? Or can those labels be a burden? 「I don't care how other people perceive us or what they think, and I'm happy for them to say whatever they want, really. There's no point in me worrying about it. It's impossible to control the aftermath of what I do. So it's more important to just concentrate on what you're doing. At the same time, I don't think politics is an influential factor in the direction of the band. Well, maybe it's a factor that's slowly being brought up. I mean, there may be things that go in that direction in the future, but… I think as I've gotten older, I've developed certain views and certain opinions and I've started to incorporate them into the songs. But I wouldn't say the whole album is political. Of course, there are some very direct love songs on the album that don't have any political commentary in them at all.」

Perhaps a more accurate description would be that Muse is a band of twists and turns. Up until now, the companies Muse has fought against to prevent the use of their songs and names without permission have been large companies and big names, such as Nestlé or Celine Dion, for example (see column under p. 27). 「I think that's true. I think people of my generation, and the younger generation who are now becoming adults, have a very strong rejection of the commercial corporate structures that have been there since they were born. If the parliament is run on a proportional representation system, the MPs are supposed to represent the views of the majority of the people, but in reality they are influenced by people like lobbyists from large corporations. With the internet, there is no longer any reason to stifle the expansion of pure democracy. Decisions on major issues, such as whether or not to enter the war or to enact new laws, should not be made by a very limited class of people who spend more time in London than in their own constituencies. There should always be a referendum, in which the general public can participate. The internet has given people access to an awful lot of information. There are far more sources of information now than there were 30 years ago, when there were only a few newspapers and a few TV channels and it was easy to control public opinion. Thirty years ago, if the BBC said something, everyone believed it. But now with the internet, it's much more possible for people to have a genuine free opinion.」

And people are also willing to make an effort to collect information and increase their knowledge, because it's now seen as cool to gather information. 「I agree. I think we should move in that direction, and I'm definitely in favour of that happening. Apart from the demo, the album's opener 'Uprising' is an overview, so to speak, about being fed up with someone else making decisions about us. That's a political view that's coming up in my mind at the moment, and it's something I hope to express more and more in the Muse album.」

Going back to the music, can you tell us anything about the advantages and constraints of being a three-piece band? 「With our first three albums, we felt constrained by our line-up quite early on. So we were trying to cram all these other ideas into our playing as a three-piece. There's a certain simplicity in the three-piece framework that I don't want to lose. But at the same time, I think we've opened up the possibility of playing live synth and sample parts by having a fourth musician on stage when we play live. But in the case of this album, the last three songs are impossible to play live without making some dramatic changes. The whole thing has to be played on synths. An orchestra is impossible. But we think the majority of the album should be played live with a fourth musician. For us, there's always a fine line between 'we want to be a three-piece' and 'we want to be more than a three-piece'. It's a bit contradictory, but we like both. We like the simplicity and roughness of the straight rock that only a three-piece can give off. Three people can actually sound more powerful than a five-piece, because you can clearly hear the three distinct instrumental parts. At the same time, we're very much into more carefully crafted, complex music. Music with more depth. And unfortunately, three-piece bands are very good at straight-ahead rock stuff. Like the Jimi Hendrix Experience or the Police, for example, they had a lot of energy. But of course we're influenced by other music as well. So we try to do both. I don't really know which is our essence. We're not sure if we should get more musicians involved or not, and we've been wondering for a long time now.」

Earlier in the interview, we asked you about the division of roles when it comes to promoting Muse, and it's interesting to hear that you've adopted a democratic approach when it comes to the music aspect as well. Just earlier you were talking about instruments with clearly assigned roles. 「Maybe with 'Exogenesis' we broke that rule for the first time. But I'd like to think that the three instruments we're each responsible for are the most important axis on which the song depends. The bass riff is usually as important as the guitar riff, and the drums are usually the first signal. In terms of playing, I think we're a genuine, really democratic band. Chris probably plays as many lido riffs that get the crowd going as much as I do. And Muse are not a guitar hero band.」

"Words like 'over-the-top' and 'too much' that were used as insults in the early days are now used as compliments in a positive way."

Aside from the added flourishes added by the arrangements, some of the songs on The Resistance seem more curvaceous and graceful than on previous albums. Is this related to the fact that Muse have started playing live at arena venues in recent years? In other words, were you influenced by the fact that you learned what works well and what doesn't in such large-scale venues? 「That's an interesting perspective. When I started the band, it was definitely to play shows. I didn't form the band to make recordings. I started the band because I wanted to get on stage and tour the world with my friends. It's like being a teenager who dreams of touring. I see playing live shows as the end result of what we're doing. Most of the time, I'm making this kind of music to play live in some way. But as the venues get bigger and bigger, I've noticed a phenomenon happening. In the bigger venues, there are grandiose, flashy parts that get things going. Those parts didn't work in the smaller venues. In the early days, the reviews about us used to swear by words like 'over-the-top' and 'too much'. But when we started playing bigger venues, those same words are now used as compliments in a positive way. They say it's great because it's 'over the top' and 'flashy'. It's like that part of the band has been capitalised on and we've been able to get the audience more involved. If you listen to songs like 'Uprising', you can hear that we want the audience to sing along with us. We want to feel at one with the big audience. I want the people at the back of the room to sing along, not as me, but as each of us singing about ourselves, in a chorus. I use the pronoun "we" a lot, like at the end of "Knights of Cydonia". I think the fact that we're playing bigger venues has definitely had an effect on the way we use the word 'we' a lot.」

But apart from that choice of words, would you say that your music has not been 'adapted' to larger venues, but that you have found the right size venue for you? 「Sometimes you suddenly realise that there are things you've always wanted to do that are better suited to a bigger venue. We've always had this idea in our heads that we've always wanted to push the boundaries, but when you're playing a bigger venue you can be a bit more open than you normally would be. I'm not worried about doing that at all anymore. The third album['s song], 'Blackout', is one of my favourites, but it didn't work out so well back then when we were mainly playing hall-sized venues. I was a bit disappointed that people didn't like these graceful songs as much as I did. So for a long time I left it out of the set. But when we played it at Wembley Stadium, it went down a storm and everyone said it was one of the best songs at the concert that day. I was really moved by that. So, I thought, maybe I have to make it over the top? Otherwise, I won't be able to show my best qualities. When we used to play in smaller clubs, when we played this song, people would go and buy beer or look at their watches and wonder when we were going to play a rock song next. But in the big arena venues, when we play this song, people are holding up lighter fires and shaking to it. People listen to it more intently now. I don't know how it works, but there's definitely a key to it.」

Translator's Note: In case some of you are too lazy to click on that link that I put there, here's the video of Dom playing a snare drum in a sheep field while listening to his phone. You're welcome.

[xlii-60]

The Miscellaneous Bin - Will Paquin

Welcome to another type of review I'm looking to do on this blog- the miscellaneous bin! Named after the bin in record stores where some of the more random things go, this specific type of review will be dedicated to things that aren't exactly albums. Songs that only exist as singles, EPs, and maybe even general artist reviews will be filed under this, and so I'm starting out with an artist I've liked for a little while now, Will Paquin! I'm going to be talking about 3 of his songs, Circles, In Two, and Now You Know, but I genuinely adore every song he's put out so far.

Like a lot of people who listen to Will Paquin, I found him through TikTok, before I ended up deleting the app some time in 2021. The reason I included Now You Know rather than Chandelier, which was Paquin's first release after a TikTok of the initial guitar riff went viral, is because Now You Know is the song I found him through!

Immediately, the most recognizable aspect of Paquin's music, and what drew me to looking at his page just beyond the first clip I heard, is the style he plays guitar with. Starting from Samba guitar (and inspired by Baden Powell, Toquinho, and Luiz Bonfa), he uses a spiderwebby, delicate finger-picking that adds both a thrumming heartbeat and a lacy membrane to his music. Now You Know, released in February of 2021, takes a moment or two to get to that fingerpicking, and the lyrical content of the song is angry, frustrated, exploring the themes of making mistakes and having to learn the hard way. The opening lines of the song were all I heard at first, as I had managed to find the song just before its release, and I found it constantly stuck in my head, with the backdrop of that delicate, hypnotic guitar.

I've been following his music since then, though not directly through TikTok anymore, since I haven't had the app in years now. Of these three, the next to release would be Circles, in August of 2022. Circles jumps almost instantly into that familiar guitar, though unlike Now You Know's anger and frustration, Circles carries a sort of longing sadness, a feeling of searching and missing something. There's a piece somewhere that's dislodged, and it's beginning to drift away, but there's a grounding nature to the idea of someone in particular, keeping them in your mind, maybe to the point of obsession. It's a very beautiful song. I've included two of his newer tracks here because I enjoy all of his stuff but particularly enjoy the way his vocal style and musical style have developed alongside each other in the recent releases. Not mentioned in this post is his newest, Lightning, which is really incredible as well.

The last track I'll talk about in this post might be my favorite of the three, released in November of 2022, In Two. The track is more gentle than circles, almost feeling like you're being told some sort of secret. Paquin's vocals on the track are ginger, nearly whispered at times, creating a quiet, delicate bubble, as if you're being let in on something only a select few get to know. The lyrics of In Two seem to detail a somewhat codependent relationship as it begins to fall apart, especially with the chorus, "Half of me is half of you now, I'll have to cut myself in two." It's a heartbreakingly beautiful song, that feels as emotionally tender as the delivery of its lyrics.

Overall, I'd say, like I'm sure a lot of others would, that Paquin's finger-picking is one of the main things that drew me to his music, but the development of his style and his vocals, as well as his lyrical content, are the things that keep me coming back to listen again and again.

Here's some links if you'd like to check him out yourself:

Youtube

Spotify

Soundcloud

[jcapehartjr]

Album Review: "Ember" by Kubbi

Throughout the late 2000s and well into the 2010s, nostalgia for the 1980s “8-Bit” aesthetic made popular by the likes of Nintendo was all the rage. Sprite-based games dominated the video game market, and chiptune music that emulated the sounds of Nintendo’s limited sound hardware rose to immense popularity. Naturally, some artists innovated on the chiptune trend in unique and interesting ways. One of those artists was Vegard “Kubbi” Kummen. The Norway-native, 28-year-old composer-producer (according to his biography from last.fm) has a fairly extensive discography dating back to 2012, much of which is available on a “name your price” basis.

Kubbi combines the “chiptune” aesthetic with a plethora of other styles and influences to create a unique and intriguing listening experience. The variety of his stylistic influences is exemplified very well by his 2015 release “Ember”. The album draws influence from rock, dance, dubstep, and arguably even some sects of hip hop, among other genres. Kubbi combines elements of these genres with the signature digital “chiptune” sounds to create a sound world full of joy, passion, fun, and intrigue.

One of Kubbi’s greatest strengths demonstrated in this album is his knack for writing memorable melodies. The opening track “Pathfinder” creates a laid-back atmosphere and Kubbi floats a simple yet ever-memorable melody on top. The bouncy, dubstep-inspired “Cascade” immediately grabs the listener with an endlessly catchy, syncopated riff and later in the song gives the listener another memorable melody to latch onto. These memorable melodies create a sense of satisfaction within each song, and even between different songs on the album, but we’ll return to that idea later.

Another strength of Kubbi’s found all over “Ember” is the masterful treatment of rhythm. The energetic title track “Ember”, with its frenetic 8-bit drum beats and its chugging electric guitars, is full of rhythmic syncopations that insist the song forward. However, Kubbi has no intention of overwhelming the listener, so he frequently shifts into a “half-time” feel to allow for a satisfying exhale after all the pent-up tension and energy. This technique—used often in rock genres—is found in other tracks including “Firelight”, “Compass”, and “Overworld”, and it proves just as effective and satisfying each time it happens.

A more directly audible way in which Kubbi demonstrates inspiration from other genres is through instrumentation choices. The chugging electric guitars of “Firelight” and “Restoration” obviously invoke rock. The constantly shifting 8-bit timbres during the forever-stuck-in-my-head beat drops of “Cascade” invoke dubstep. The use of orchestral strings in “Firelight”, “Overworld”, “Restoration”, and “Formed By Glaciers” invoke a lush, cinematic sound akin to classic sweeping film scores. Kubbi assigns particular instruments different roles in different songs, and sometimes the roles that he assigns to some instruments are roles not always typical of said instruments. For example, in “Restoration”, Kubbi almost exclusively uses electric guitars for a “rhythm guitar” function, while a lead synthesizer plays expressive solos that sound like they could easily have been played by a lead guitarist from an 80s band. This role reversal distances the track from the typical guitar solo trope.

Kubbi also uses this idea of instrumentation and “roles” to create contrast between parts of certain songs as well as between different songs on the album. In “Ember” (the song), the drums transition smoothly between the electronic chiptune timbres and more traditional acoustic drums (or at least, electronic approximations of them). This blend of electronic and acoustic is a key element of this album’s makeup. Combining acoustic orchestral strings (violins, cellos, etc.) with synthesized “8-bit” sounds as Kubbi does, in “Overworld” in particular, allows him to essentially create a new type of hybrid “instrument”, one with the natural. resonant sound of a violin, but the crispness of a digital chiptune synthesizer. Kubbi uses this blend of the electronic and the acoustic to establish an expectation across eight songs of the album. This blended sound is the sound of “Ember” (the album), and it is the sound of Kubbi.

...and then there’s “Formed By Glaciers”. Described in a review on RateYourMusic.com as “by far the greatest composition Kubbi has ever gifted”, this closing track takes everything about this album and twists it in a completely different direction. The chiptune aesthetic that courses through the veins of this album is pushed to the background. The bouncy syncopation is forgone for an insistent pounding of straight rhythms. Kubbi brings the non-chiptune influences to the forefront in this absolutely stunning album closer. Immediately upon starting the track, the listener is presented with something that feels both new and familiar. Wha… what is that? It’s “Pathfinder”. Kubbi bookends the album with the same melodic theme, but sets “Formed By Glaciers” apart by setting this familiar melody in 3/4 time instead of 4/4, as the rest of the album has been. As mentioned previously, the fact that the “Pathfinder” melody is so memorable makes it all the more satisfying when it returns here in "Formed By Glaciers" and the listener can remember and identify it.

Along with the 3/4 time signature, “Formed By Glaciers” also introduces another thing to the album: human voices. To accompany them, the song begins with an almost entirely acoustic instrumentation: piano and orchestral strings over subdued drums. The fact that the human voice is heard exclusively in this song immediately places in the listener’s mind the idea that this is something special. The longest track on the album, “Formed By Glaciers” takes its time unfurling, slowly adding elements and twisting the knife into the listeners heart with its lush harmonies. Eventually, electronic elements are added in and the song swells to a cathartic release of pure passion. The pounding of the kick drum, the cacophony of crashing cymbals, the rough-in-just-the-right-way distorted electric guitars, all accompanied by the angelic, lyric-less singing of real, actual, human singers brings the album to a climactic finish, and stands as a true testament to the musical prowess of Vegard “Kubbi” Kummen.

[existentialmagazine]

Review: Reviving the 2000s pop-punk sound, snakesnakewhale.’s new single ‘Castle, PA’ offers raw sound, raspy vocals and emotions pushed to great lengths

As a band of 30-somethings writing the music they would’ve loved to listen to growing up, snakesnakewhale. bring with them a hefty blanket of nostalgia everywhere they go, creating songs reminiscent of eras long gone but never quite forgotten. Bringing the same kind of spirits as acts like Real Friends, Modern Baseball, The Front Bottoms and more, it’s inherently clear in everything they share that the passion to create here stems only from a love of what they do and a desire to write about things that cannot be buried, rising from the depths for their authenticity above all else.

Their latest single ‘Castle, PA’ of course embodies all of that and more, wrapping you inside a nearing five minute auditory journey that’s determined to do nothing other than make you feel, even if you want to angstily head-bang or play air-guitar along to their poetic words shoved in-your-face to be heard. A paired-back and resonant electric guitar riff slowly leads into that, an unexpectedly intimate introduction that builds upon the haunting atmosphere before it does the underlying ferocity. It’s not long before these drawn-out, hazy strings find themselves cut off by thunderous gritty sound though, snakesnakewhale. serenading you in the form of heavy-hitting drums, pounding bass and electric guitar twangs while their vocalist takes centre stage of it all. Through spewed out, gravelly words with a handful of differing backing layers to complement this chant-along feel, snakesnakewhale. set up the core pop-punk roots of ‘Castle, PA’.

The verse lulls slightly from this opening chorus, with intermittent guitar strums, steadier drums and a bright backing riff coming together with a more toned-down approach, though never losing the song’s intentionally unrefined feeling sound. The vocals are continually hectic too, in the foreground baring raspy, spoken-sung lines between moments that are emphasised by multitudes of backing voices, painting the picture of an echoey internal monologue of sorts that cannot seem to find peace. The lyrics are equally infused with a harsh, almost emotionally hostile sense that matches with the pained delivery too, carrying within a reflection on many long road-trips up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Though in practice a drive that should be unlike any other, snakesnakewhale. delve deeper, exploring the connotations of constantly being on the move and in-turn the back and forth nature of focusing on the negative or the positive.

From the opening line’s callback to childhood games, they sing ‘eye spy with my bloodshot eye, a little white lie I tell myself from the driver’s seat’, an acknowledgement of the passage of time since the youthful days spent carefree on their travels, now perhaps telling themselves the ‘lie’ that nothing has changed since while knowing deep down they couldn’t be further from the truth. Continuing ‘I should be focused on the road in front of me, but I’m stuck staring at the crack in the windshield’, it’s deeply implied these trips are in many ways metaphorical, relating the future to the roads ahead and yet feeling caught in one place within a vehicle that seems to be falling apart around them, steering them away from their focus and growth by the cracks of the past.

The chorus preaches some of the most universally relatable words of them all, singing ‘I know home is not a place, just a feeling that I chase’ , leaving snakesnakewhale. to deal with the overwhelming loss of the feeling of home and the way it fades from attainability like it once were there for you in younger days. As families drift apart, pass away, or one or the other move from places we once considered our roots, ‘Castle, PA’ looks towards the loneliness that comes with growing older, aimlessly wandering while the world expects you to have mapped every detail of your plans. No longer finding your ‘home’ in the places it used to be and yet finding no more of it in the places you’re still uncovering, ‘Castle, PA’ yearns for the stability of youth and yet instead only finds more open-roads and no place to rest.

As snakesnakewhale. surround this message with a bold and rowdy energy, they seek to lay undertones of silver linings amongst the instruments, taking the song in the direction of hope even when on the surface everything feels miserably hollow. If you’ve ever found yourself searching for meaning while riding off the beaten path, ‘Castle, PA’ will give you some solace that you’re not alone, and quite a few of us are just stumbling through and getting by. Listen to it for yourself here to really dig deeper, with so much hidden meaning and sonic depth worth appreciating.

Written by: Tatiana Whybrow

Photo Credits: Unknown

// This coverage was supported and created via Musosoup, #SustainableCurator.

[independentartistbuzz]

Indie 5-0: 5Qs with the dt's

Hailing from Central Jersey, the dt's, consisting of David Cacciatore and Tom Losito, defy musical categorization with their diverse instrumental talents. Their latest single, "All In My Head," seamlessly blends contemporary pop, vintage inspirations, and harmonious vocals, exploring the challenges of genuine connections in a modern world.

Distinguished by their impressive multi-instrumental skills, the duo's musical journey began at a local bar's open mic night, evolving into a significant presence in the U.S. music scene since their official establishment in 2020. Crafting their music in home studios, the dt's traverse genres from rock to blues, earning acclaim with their debut EP, "You With Me," in 2022.

As they gear up for new releases in the coming year, including "All In My Head," the dt's continue to captivate audiences with their audacious sound and commitment to musical innovation.

We caught up with the dt's below.

You both have a wide range of musical talents, playing various instruments and spanning multiple genres. How do your diverse musical backgrounds and skills contribute to your unique sound as the dt's, and how do you decide which instruments to feature in each song? 

Thank you! We both come from a wide variety of musical backgrounds that meet in the middle of rock and roll. We both grew up listening to a lot of the same bands, but also some unique ones that we exposed to each other later on. One thing we had in common was our love of harmonies, which we try to incorporate into our music as much as possible. 

We approach each song differently but a typical component of which instrumentation we use is usually centered around the melody or "hook". Once we have that, we like to experiment in our home studio, practice space, and even the recording studio by adding layers of different instrumentation to see which are best fit for the song. Different artists' recording techniques and styles inspire us—for example Paul McCartney's signature Hofner bass sound or even Charlie Puth's vocal harmony layering. Being able to explore different instrumentation such as keyboards, drums, and bass early in the writing process is also great as it allows us to share ideas with our live band before we lay down the song in the studio. This is what we did on "All In My Head"; we had the foundation for the song, but we brought it to our bandmates and producer to help elevate and expand upon our ideas. 

Could you share a bit about your creative process? What inspires your songwriting, and how do you collaborate and write music together, especially given your background in diverse genres like rock, blues, and power pop? 

Absolutely! The beautiful thing about music is that you can be inspired by anything! Whether it is an arbitrary thought coming to your head,  hearing a riff or lyric to another song, or going through/hearing about a life experience, there is inspiration everywhere. We love to write together and individually. What is constantly fresh and exciting with our approach is that we don't have a one-size-fits-all for every song. If Dave has a chorus and lyrics, Tom could bring a riff or a harmony, and vice versa. We have a very open and healthy dialogue during the writing process so we can offer different parts and blend them. Our newest single, "All In My Head", started with Dave, ironically, having the main guitar riff in his head. Once the pandemic hit, he decided to add some structure and lyrics to the melody. When he felt like he had a decent structure to it, he brought it to Tom. We worked effortlessly to get the song in a spot to be able to play it with our band. Once we did that, they also had some input that helped take the song in another direction. Then from there, we continued experimenting and tossing ideas back and forth in the studio with our producers and bandmates. It was a really fun and genuine experience. We could not be happier with the final result of this song.  

Your debut EP "You With Me" received local and regional acclaim. Can you tell us more about the themes and stories behind the songs on that EP, and what kind of response were you hoping to evoke from your audience? 

A lot of the songs on our first EP last year were tunes we wrote during quarantine and even before starting the dt's in our old project. They were songs that illustrated our start as a duo from 2020 through 2022 and represented the ones we loved the most in our first batch of songs. Themes on prior relationships, life change and even pushing through personal vulnerabilities were very apparent in those songs. We wrote and recorded that entire EP by ourselves in our home studios during quarantine in which we acquired equipment and learned the recording process from scratch after always recording in a studio. Our latest single "All In My Head" was a much different approach as we were able to record with our full band in one room performing the main tracks together with our producer Joey Papa capturing it all at Sonoma Beach Studios in Clark, NJ. 

The duo's ability to seamlessly transition between different musical styles, from rock to blues and power pop, is quite impressive. How do you maintain this versatility while still creating a cohesive and distinctive sound that defines the dt's? 

We both have a wide array of influences that includes modern pop, 90's rock, 60's rock n roll, Blues, Power Pop, Britpop, and more. This allows us to explore a wide array of genres, vibes, and themes which keeps our writing explorative and exciting. We love how every song we write sounds different than the one we wrote before. Our ability to transition and utilize our diverse musical backgrounds is what creates and defines the distinctive sound of the dt's.

With new material on the horizon for 2023, what can your fans expect from your upcoming releases? Are there any specific themes or musical directions you're exploring in this new music, and how has your sound evolved since your earlier work, like "You With Me" and "Refresh"? 

Yes, we do! Our latest single "All In My Head" was just released and we are extremely happy with how it turned out. Everything about this song is different from our previous releases. We wanted to push the boundaries with "All In My Head" by experimenting with new sounds, and having our backing band in the studio with us (Rob Jennings - Bass, Frank Lettieri Jr - Drums) cutting the main tracks live, all while incorporating the cohesiveness of pop. We were able to capture that live essence and energy that we have been chasing, while also having that "studio" quality. Being able to work with a producer this time has also been a great experience. It allowed us to experiment and hear another perspective, which we did not have on our EP from last year. We are extremely excited about the new song and have received some great feedback! We have more material ready for release in late 2023/early 2024. We also plan to finalize and record additional songs this winter as well. So, expect some new music, music videos, and shows! 

[monarchxx]

Kurt Cobain Dating a Riot Grrl Band Member Would Include...

request: Hi, can you please write headcanons of kurt cobain dating a girl who is in a riot grrl band? You're doing God's work <3

a/n: first off i feel like this is kind of shit soo i didnt know if i wanted to post it or not and i might delete it later but also I AM SO SORRY I DIDNT SEE THIS SOONER BUT ANYWAYS HERE YOU GO

alright now listen

he was interested in you from the moment he saw you 

but then when he talked to you and found out you were in a band

girl that was just the cherry on top of the cake 

not only were you drop dead gorgeous 

you also were deeply invested in music just like him

like shit that just made you perfect in his eyes

and he knew he’d be dumb if he didn’t ask you out

so... he did.

he supported you 100,000,000%

especially after finding out youre in a riot grrrl band

and learning about everything you guys stood for 

kurt himself is a feminist 

believes men and women should be equal

yk all that jazz

you being in a band that goes against the standards really inspired him

he was attracted to your non conformist lifestyle/ artistry  

now he tries his hardest to come to every show 

and he did for the most part

up until nirvana really took off

but when that happened he was constantly promoting your band 

yk telling his fans to go check out your band

or casually naming your bands songs as some of his favorites in interviews 

stuff like that

even had your band open for nirvana a couple times

he would ask for your opinion on songs

depends on what you do in your band but

if you play guitar he will ask for your help to come up with riffs

you play drums he’ll ask you to play in the background of a demo recording 

if you sing yall will be singing a damn duet

writing lyrics together 

he likes to help write material for your band

and even if he isnt helping you write a song he still enjoys watching you write a song

because you are so focused and he can really see how passionate you are about music

as i said before your band really inspired him in many ways

going against standards 

doing your own thing, yk?

it also really opened his eyes to more things happening the world 

he’d ask you to explain to him everything that you stand for 

so he can get a better understanding of your band and the songs meanings

he wanted to be educated on things you were passionate about 

KURT IS A PROUD BOYFRIEND

when he sees you on stage he is just in awe

he cant take his eyes off of you 

is 100% jamming out and singing along with the rest of the crowd

it’s kind of like a “that’s my girlfriend” moment 

where he’s telling everyone that while pointing at you up on stage

he had gotten so deep into the meaning behind riot grrrl that anytime someone would ask him about you and your band he would easily be able to slip into the roots and why it became what it is

now

you’re passionate for music

strong headed about your beliefs 

live a bohemian life

and are extremely beautiful

i mean hell

you kind of just did for kurt

you were everything he liked in a person

so easy to say he fell in hard and deep for you

and he had no plans of letting you go 

a/n #2: yeah girl idk about this one.. i might delete and try again later so we’ll see 

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

Part One

Luke Patterson x Fem!reader

Summary: All you wanted was to play the biggest gig of your life with your best friends, but you just might get more than you bargained for.

Warnings: death and some swearing (I don’t think there is anything else but if there is, let me know!)

…

May 1994

“Shit.”

You whispered to yourself as you stared at the old clock on the diner’s wall.

It had only been half an hour since your shift started, but you were already anxious for it to be over.

Cece’s diner was normally one of your favorite places in the world. It was a small, poorly lit building in a boring part of L.A. It didn’t see much business since it wasn’t easy to find. But the air always smelled like fresh coffee and cinnamon.

You loved working there, but it was not where you wanted to be right now.

“You okay, (Y/n)?” A voice asked from behind the counter. You turned to see your boss Cece, a petite middle-aged woman who was eyeing the dirty table in front of you that you were supposed to be cleaning.

“Yeah, sorry. My mind is somewhere else.” You admitted, throwing the empty plates in the tray and carrying them to the kitchen.

Cece shook her head and let out a laugh as she followed. “On a certain guitarist, perhaps?”

Your cheeks flushed and Cece laughed again, grabbing the rag off her shoulder and smacking it against your arm lightly.

She was one of the few people who knew about your feelings for Luke Patterson. One of your best friends, childhood crush, and most recently, your bandmate.

“And for your information, I’m thinking about all of the band because we’re practicing tonight.”

“Uh-huh.” Cece hummed, a sly smile on her face.

She always pretended to be annoyed with your ramblings since you joined sunset curve, saying that a sixteen-year-old girl had no business being in a rock band. But you had caught her bragging about you to the few regulars you had multiple times.

She had a son living a few states away, but they weren’t close. So she treated you like her daughter. Which meant she wasn't the biggest fan of you constantly hanging around a bunch of teenage boys. But eventually, she warmed up to them. Especially Alex;  he was her favorite.

Luke, on the other hand, annoyed her to no end.

You ran the dishes under hot water and pressed a kiss to Cece’s cheek as you walked past her and back into the main room.

“Besides, Luke doesn’t like me like that.”

Cece rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak but the shrill ring of the phone cut her off. You let out a sigh, grateful for the distraction. She meant well, but when it came to your situation with Luke, you were more than happy to live in denial and ignoring it altogether.

He was your best friend. That’s all that mattered right now.

You shook the thoughts from your head and grabbed the phone’s receiver. “Cece’s Diner. How can I help you?”

“How much do you love me?”

Speak of the devil.

Your heart raced at the sound of Luke’s voice rang through your ears. His choice of words definitely not helping to calm you down. You shook your head, mentally scolding yourself.

“Luke?” You asked which prompted Cece to raise an eyebrow from the other side of the room.

“Hey. I’m sorry for calling you at work but I can’t finish this song and it’s driving me nuts. I need you and your genius brain to come help me.”

Despite your protests, the tap dance in your chest continued. It was ridiculous that after knowing Luke all your life, you were still shocked when he complimented you like that.

“I don’t get off until six, but I’ll come after.” You said, trying not to smile when you heard him cheer in victory. “And before Reggie asks, yes, I’ll bring coffee.”

Luke laughed before singing into the phone. “Get me a large with extra whipped cream and cinnamon.”

“I hate you.” You sang back, making a mental note to wipe off the smirk you could practically hear in his voice before the line went dead. You sighed as you put the phone back on the hook, holding a finger out to Cece.

“Not a word.”

A few hours later, you walked into Bobby’s garage, carrying a cardboard tray in each arm.

You sighed as you looked around the room. Every surface was covered in discarded paper balls and empty fast-food wrappers. You had expected to hear some form of music or at least some talking but the room was dead silent.

In the center of the mess, Alex and Reggie sat on the floor. Alex was trying to balance his drumsticks on his nose, and Reggie was mindlessly strumming his bass. Luke was sitting back on the couch, his eyebrows tightly knitted together as he frantically scribbled into his notebook.

“Your savior is here, and I come bearing coffee.”

All three heads whipped in your direction and within seconds, Reggie was excitedly bouncing his way towards you. He reached out to swipe a cup from the tray in your left hand. You swatted his arm away.

"Not that one. That’s Al’s.”

You set the rest of the drinks on the table in front of you and walked up to Alex. You handed him the cup and he gave you an appreciative smile. You always made sure to get him hot chocolate or tea, since you learned the hard way that caffeine can sometimes make his anxiety worse. He told you he didn’t want to admit that to the guys. So you were happy covering for him.

“Why does he get his own special one?” Reggie pouted as he grabbed another cup and strolled over to Luke, plopping down next to him on the couch. “And why is she the only one who can call you ‘Al’?”

“Because I’m his favorite.” You said, poking Reggie’s cheek as you passed him and took the other seat on the couch next to Luke. Alex just nodded, trying to hold back a smile.

“I thought you didn’t get off for another hour.” Luke said, looking up from his songbook for the first time since you got there.

“Cece knew it was important band stuff so she let me off early.” You shrugged.

“Oh no, she’s not mad at me, is she?” Luke shivered, thinking of all the times Cece had chewed him out for being a ‘bad influence’ on you or made him wipe down some tables for accidentally making you late for a shift. “You know I can’t stand when that woman is mad at me.”

“I also know that all you have to do is give her your little puppy-dog look and she’ll instantly forgive you.”

“Yeah, you guys are alike that way.” Luke teased, sticking his bottom lip out and batting his eyes dramatically.

“Yeah, yeah. So, what have you got so far?” You said as you bumped his shoulder with yours. He grinned and started translating his messy handwriting for all of you.

The four of you sat there for an hour putting all the words in the right places and by the time Bobby got there, you all felt confident that it was finally finished. You took your place behind your microphone and nodded.

“Okay, Al. Count us down.”

Alex twirled his drumsticks. “1…2…3…4!”

June, 1995

“Don’t look down.”

You couldn’t help but smile as you sang the song you had written a year ago. Your feet bouncing on the stage, the thin layer of sweat on your forehead.

To your left, Luke raised his arms, trying to hype up the non-existent crowd. Alex clashed his drumsticks together to the beat as all your voices came together.

“Cause we’re still rising up right now.”

You clapped along to the song, the energy coursing through your veins. Luke was in the middle of throwing his guitar behind his back. You rolled your eyes at him and he flashed you a small bashful smile before turning his head.

Your heart fluttered but you forced yourself to turn the other way, singing with Reggie just as the song transferred out of the bridge. The fog machines cued the ending chorus and you gripped your microphone with both hands.

“And even if we hit the ground, we’ll still fly.

Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever.

But living like it’s now or never.“

The other boy's voices dropped out until it was just you and Luke singing the chorus. You looked over at him, but his eyes were glued to the front of the room. Normally, you would share a mic for this part or at least stand close together, but he seemed determined to avoid you.

Just like he had been for the last six months.

You ignored the gaping pit in your stomach and poured all your focus into the song.

“Like it’s now or never!

It’s now or never!“

The final riff sounded and you let out an exhausted but proud sigh. There were a few scattered claps from the staff in the venue. But a curly-haired girl behind the counter was cheering especially loud. Reggie winked at her and leaned into his mic.

“Thank you! We’re Sunset Curve. Tell your friends.”

You rolled your eyes at him and pulled his arm, dragging him to the center of the stage. Alex came from his drum set and you gave him a high five.

“Al, you were amazing!”

“Yeah, dude, you were smoking.” Reggie agreed.

Alex blushed. “Nah, man. I was just warming up. You guys were the ones on fire.”

Reggie rolled his eyes. “Can you just own your awesomeness for once?”

Bobby and Luke nodded in agreement and you raised your eyebrows at Alex, nudging him until he finally smiled. “Okay, I was killing it!”

“I’m thinking we should fuel up before the show. Street dogs?” Luke asked. Alex and Reggie hummed in agreement but you wrinkled your nose.

“I think I’m gonna pass.” You said, jumping off the stage. It wasn’t that you had anything against street dogs, but as far as pre-gig activities go, it didn’t make your top ten list. 

Bobby landed next to you and started jogging towards the counter. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair and approached the girl wiping tables.

“Oh no.” You said. “Bobby, leave that poor girl alone.”

Bobby turned around just enough to give you a glare as you both reached the counter. The rest of the boys weren’t far behind. You felt Luke slip behind you and throw an arm on Bobby’s shoulder.

Bobby told the girl some line about being a vegetarian. But she shook it off, looking over all of you.

“You guys are really good.”

You smiled proudly. “Thank you.”

She returned your smile. “I’ve seen a lot of bands. Even been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it.”

Luke was practically beaming. The whole band contributed with the songs, of course, but you and Luke were the main writers, so it was always nice to hear people compliment your words. “That’s what we do this for. I’m Luke, by the way.”

“Hey, I’m Reggie.”

“Alex.”

“Bobby.”

“And I’m (Y/n).”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Rose.” She said, turning to you. “You have a great voice, by the way. It’s always cool to see a girl lead vocalist.”

Bobby snorted. You elbowed him and Luke gave him a wet-willy. “Oh, thank you. But I’m just co-lead.”

She opened her mouth to say something else but Reggie reached in his back pocket and pulled out a C.D and a t-shirt, handing them to her. “Here’s our demo, and a T-shirt, size beautiful.”

As if on cue, you and Alex rolled your eyes. You sent Rose an apologetic look as she held the shirt up to her body.

“Thanks, I’ll try not to wipe down the tables with this one.”

Alex nodded. “Good call! When they get wet, they kind of fall apart in your hands.”

Bobby glared at all of you. “Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?”

Luke pushed Bobby back and leaned on the counter with both arms. “Yeah, he had a hamburger for lunch.”

The boys started going towards the exit but stopped when Alex noticed you hesitating. “You coming?”

You really didn’t want hotdogs, but you also didn’t want to stay and listen to Bobby attempt to flirt with Rose. So you nodded and followed Alex to the door.

“Hey, (Y/n)!” Rose called out and you turned around. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

You gave her a warm smile before walking out into the alley. The night air hit your skin and you shivered slightly. It wasn’t cold, but it was definitely a change from the sweaty stage. You wrapped your jacket around your shoulders.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Luke whooped as he jumped through the doors and into the alleyway.

Alex gestured around, wrinkling his nose. “The smell of Sunset Boulevard?”

Luke shoved his shoulder. “No.”

You jumped out of the way as Luke splashed in a puddle. “It’s what that girl said in there. About our music.”

His eyes flickered to you when he said ‘our’ but quickly looked away. It was practically the first time he had acknowledged your presence all night.

“It connects us with people, you know? They can feel us when we play.” He said excitedly, slowing his walking until the rest of you caught up with him.

He reached each arm up and pulled Reggie to his side with one arm and despite being right next to you, he pulled Alex to his other side. You turned your head forward to hide the confused look on your face but you knew Alex saw it.

Other than Cece, he was the only person who knew about your feelings for Luke. You could tell from the look on his face that he was just as confused with Luke’s recent behavior as you were, but he didn’t say anything.

“I want that connection with everybody.”

“Then we’re gonna need more T-shirts.” You heard Reggie say as you reached the end of the alley. You pulled up the hood of your jacket and turned your head away from the line in front of the venue.

You didn't mean to walk so fast, but you were the first one at the alleyway a few blocks away from the Orpheum. You made your hotdog and made small talk with the vendor for a few minutes before the guys caught up.

“You trying to ditch us, (Y/n)?” Reggie asked, putting ingredients on his hotdog.

“Not my fault you guys are slow.” You stuck your tongue at him and he squinted at you. Alex groaned. You looked over at him to see him trying to put a pickle on his tray.

“Man, I can’t wait until the day we can eat someplace where the condiments aren’t served out of the back of an Oldsmobile.”

As he apologized to the vendor for getting pickle juice on his battery cables, you, Luke, and Reggie made your way to one of the old couches. They both sat down, leaving one open space next to Luke.

You made a point of sitting on the arm of the couch, letting your feet dangle on the seat. If Luke was going to avoid you, then you were going to avoid him right back. You also avoided the questioning look Reggie gave you before Alex sat down.

Luke didn’t seem to notice. He was bouncing his leg and couldn’t seem to stop smiling, it was obvious that he was still buzzing with energy from the soundcheck.

“This is awesome, you guys.” He said as he made himself comfortable between Reggie and Alex. “We’re playing the Orpheum! Do you know how many bands that played here ended up being huge?”

You rolled your eyes and smiled while the boys chuckled. You were all used to seeing the intense side of Luke, but he had been an even bigger ball of excited energy ever since you booked the Orpheum gig. It could be a little much for the guys sometimes, but the way his eyes lit up when he talked about music never failed to make you smile.

“I’m serious.” Luke insisted as he leaned forward and raised his hotdog in a toast. “Eat up, guys. Because after tonight, everything changes.”

You all toasted and then started to eat. Usually, street dogs weren’t half bad. But this time there was a burnt, nasty flavor that made it hard to swallow. Alex saw your face and nodded in agreement.

Even Luke, who had a super-human stomach, made a face. But his hunger must’ve won out cause he took another big bite.

“That’s a new flavor.” Alex said with his mouth full.

“Relax, man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.” Reggie told him as he took another bite. You still didn’t feel one hundred percent confident about it but you shrugged and kept eating.

It all happened so fast.

At first, it felt like you were dreaming. Like maybe you had just fallen asleep and would eventually wake up and realize that everything was just a nightmare.

But then the outline of Los Angeles floated away in a haze of grey and you were left in the dark. There was nothing but silence until you heard a voice somewhere in front of you.

It was the sound of Alex’s frantic ranting.

You could feel Reggie and Luke next to you, but they didn’t say anything. You didn’t either.

But you didn’t really need to. It was glaringly obvious what happened, you could feel it in your bones.

You were dead.

Alex’s ranting slowly turned into crying, which made you cry. Luke heard your quiet sniffles and for the first time in months, he touched you.

He reached out and intertwined your fingers loosely in his, gently swiping his thumb across your knuckles. You closed your eyes, trying to soak up the feeling. This was the closest to him you had been in since that night in the studio.

It seemed like so long ago, but at the same time, it was all too familiar. You knew that if you stayed in this moment with him any longer, you would fall apart completely.

So you turned away from him and buried your head in Alex’s shoulder. It seemed like hours passed before the silence was broken and the opening of Now or Never filled the air.

“Is that…?” You started, but before you could finish, the floor disappeared from under you.

You hit the ground with a painful groan and blinked at the sudden flood of bright light. You felt movement next to you and saw Reggie struggling to get up.

You hauled yourself up and turned around to realize you were back in Bobby’s garage. It looked so different that you almost didn’t recognize it. There was a new grand piano and flowers on every table. The room was free of any trash or discarded flannels.

But the biggest change by far, was the girl standing in front of you.

She was about your age with brown hair tied in a ponytail, in a bright yellow shirt, and furry slippers. She was staring at the four of you with wide eyes and a terrified look on her face.

“How did we get back here?” Luke said as he scanned the studio.

The girl screamed, which made the boys scream and cling to each other. Reggie threw himself against Luke and pulled you behind him.

They all screamed for a few more seconds before the girl ran out of the garage doors. You cautiously walked out from behind Reggie and towards the middle of the room, spinning in a full circle.

The boys started talking but you were still mesmerized by all the changes made to the studio.

You looked up towards the ceiling and saw that there were chairs hanging by the loft and countless tiny plants by the windows but you could still see the nail polish-stain you had made on the carpet and the dents in the beams from all the times Luke had messed up his guitar throw.

Carefully, you reached towards the piano and tried to touch a vase of flowers but they passed right through your fingers. Your entire hand went numb then a tingly feeling spread throughout your body.

Well, two things were for sure.

You were definitely back, but you were definitely dead.

[lifeofkaze]

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 38

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N: KC belongs to @kc-and-co and David Willows (in mention) belongs to @that-scouse-wizard

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Language

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist

Taglist: @slytherindisaster @night-rhea @carewyncromwell @thatravenpuffwitch @anthamariemayfair

Shot through the heart and you're to blame

You give love a bad name

I play my part and you play your game

You give love a bad name

~ Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name ~

Orion watched as Lizzie jumped off the tour bus as soon as its doors were opened wide enough for her to squeeze through. She walked towards the petrol station at a brisk pace, her ponytail swinging behind her.

He couldn’t really blame her for wanting to get out. Orion was sorry for the harshness of what he had said to her; he knew her well enough to see how hurt she had been.

But Lizzie wasn’t the only one in a bad place at the moment, and if it took Orion being this drastic for her to see it, it couldn’t be helped; not that there was any way of taking back what had been said anyway.

Orion hadn’t meant to sound bitter, but the words had slipped out of his mouth before he’d had a chance to stop them. His anger and hurt about the whole situation had gotten the better of him, like it did so often these days.

He fervently wished his old self back, which wouldn’t have been as unsettled as he was these days. But the more he tried to find himself again, the more he felt his balance slip away.

Lizzie might think he was being dramatic, but there was nothing exaggerated about his situation.

He hadn’t lied when he’d said that he had trouble eating or sleeping; his mind was constantly reeling, his thoughts running in circles, and whenever he picked up his guitar, all he could think about was this one melody that had no place in either his head or his heart anymore.

The more he tried pushing it away, the louder it sounded, and took his breath away with longing. Orion wished he could just shut his ears to it but there was no running from his own thoughts.

As a result, the song Ethan so vehemently demanded of him wasn’t more than a heap of crumpled sheets of paper, filled with crossed out lines and riffs. No matter what Orion started, he hated it before having even played three chords in a row.

He knew he had to come up with something, anything at this point; he didn’t care anymore if it was hit material or not. If it meant Ethan would leave him alone about the song he was trying to forget, he would rewrite fucking ‘Wonderwall’, if he had to.

The rest of the band and crew, who had been riding on the second bus, had dispersed all over the service station to get coffee or lunch, or stretch their legs on the burnt speck of lawn beside it.

Orion was feeling like neither; he sat down in the shadow of a tree in the dry grass and took out the notebook he was carrying everywhere with him these days.

He flicked right over the pages containing the unfinished lyrics he didn’t want to look at anymore, but his mind started wandering the instant he tried concentrating.

Out of habit he searched the scattered groups of people for Lizzie. She hadn’t come out of the service station yet; she was probably having lunch with Charlie, Orion thought and felt a sting inside his heart. Lizzie and Charlie were inseparable these days; Orion had been surprised she had accepted being on a different bus than him.

He tried returning to his discouragingly empty page but got distracted yet again when he saw Lizzie step out of the service station. She seemed a lot calmer than she had been before, and Orion thought he could even see the hint of a smile on her face.

Artemis came after her a moment later, her eyes trained onto Lizzie’s back and a slight frown on her face.

After a short while, they were joined by Charlie, who pocketed his phone before raising his voice to get their attention.

“Listen up, everyone,” he called over the parking space, “who’s in for a round of football? Winners drink for free tonight.”

Most of the crew quickly flocked together, with Lizzie and Charlie picking their teams. Naturally, Lizzie chose David for her team first, no surprises there.

Lizzie briefly glanced over to him but looked away again and voted Skye on her team instead.

When Charlie shot a questioning look in Orion’s direction as well, he shook his head and nodded towards his notebook. With a shrug, Charlie turned his back on him and the two teams walked onto their makeshift pitch.

Orion watched as they took their sides and kicked off the ball Charlie had fetched from the tour bus. The match was heating up quickly; the promise of free drinks never failed to spur them on.

Orion tried blocking out his surroundings to turn his focus on the inside. He stared at the notebook on his knees, tapping the end of the pencil against his lips thoughtfully.

“What are you working on?”

Orion looked up in surprise; he had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t even noticed KC approaching him. With an exhausted sigh she slumped down next to him and peered over his shoulder.

Not wanting to let even one of his best friends see the creative slump he was in, Orion quickly closed the book.

“Some things are better shared when ready,” he said evasively. “And this one here is far from ready, I’m afraid.”

He noticed the flustered state KC was in; she was fanning herself with her hand, holding her red hair away from her neck. No wonder she was feeling hot, Orion thought; as usual, KC was head to toe dressed in black.

“Are you done playing already?”

“I got disqualified for flirting with the ref,” KC grinned and blew a kiss in Murphy’s direction, who shook his head at her.

Both of them watched the others play in silence for some time. No matter how hard he was trying, Orion’s eyes returned to Lizzie over and over again.

He frowned when he watched Charlie grabbing Lizzie by the back of her shirt to prevent her from outplaying him. He brought his arms around her from behind and held her fast until Artemis had relieved her of the ball.

“That’s a foul, Charlie!” Lizzie exclaimed, her protest turning into a squeal when Charlie started tickling her. “Do something, Murphy!”

Murphy went to reprimand Charlie and Orion looked away from the scene.

“She doesn’t seem too upset now, does she?” he said quietly.

Lizzie had shoved Charlie away, sticking her tongue out to him, before performing the free kick Murphy had awarded her.

KC regarded him doubtfully. “That’s only for show, you know that just as well as me.”

“You think so?”

“Of course,” KC snorted.

Her voice became a little softer. “You didn’t hear that from me, but she’s been crying a lot lately. She tries not to let anyone see, especially you, but she can’t fool me.”

Her blue eyes were sad and she lowered her gaze to the ground. She picked a blade of brown grass and rubbed it between her fingers.

“I hate to see both of you so sad,” she said quietly.

Orion didn’t answer immediately and watched KC reach for another blade of grass instead, the first one already reduced to pieces.

“What makes you think I’m sad?”

KC looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “How long have we known each other at this point?”

Orion sighed, turning KC’s words over in his mind.

Every time Lizzie had come to him over the last few weeks he had seen the desperation in her grow stronger. It was lying underneath her anger and stubborness, but Orion saw through her.

His resolve to stay away from her was hurting her, he could see it, but it couldn’t be helped. If he wanted to find his old self again they had to return to how things had been, whether they liked it or not.

“I wonder when everything went so wrong,” he said more to himself and slowly shook his head.

“I hate to say it, but you should have listened to Murphy and me and just talked to her,” KC said. “I don’t know if it’s still much use now, but it’s not too late. Tell her how you feel and see where it goes from there. It can’t get much worse than this.”

Orion had quite a lot of ideas how it definitely could get worse than this, but these weren’t paths he wished to follow.

“I can’t,” he said and leaned his head against the tree in his back. “It’s no use, you know the rules. Our timing has been wrong from the beginning.”

An unusual bitterness was stealing into his voice. “I always had my music to distract myself when the dark thoughts pulled at my balance, but she’s taken even that from me. Music has always been there for me but now there’s only her in my head, and I hate it. I hate how unbalanced I am because of it.”

He covered his face with his hand and sighed deeply with all the weariness he was feeling.

“I don’t know what to do anymore.”

KC dropped her piece of grass and turned to him. “Don’t you think it would be better to tell her when the timing’s wrong than to not tell her at all?”

She waited for Orion to answer; when he didn’t, she leaned against the tree trunk as well and changed the topic.

“So what’s this thing with Merula and David?”

She nodded over to the makeshift football pitch; the teams were taking a break and David was using the time to demonstrate to Merula how to bounce the ball on his knee. Merula wasn’t watching the ball at all, however; her violet eyes were glued to David’s concentrated face.

“David Willows proves to be a fascinating character,” Orion replied wryly.

“Don’t be mean now,” KC chuckled, “it’s nice to see Merula warm up to someone for a change. It’s as if she has a heart after all.”

KC had a point; it was unfair to judge David on his friendship with Lizzie. Orion had always respected him as an artist and he had turned out to be a genuinely nice person. If anything, Orion was glad Merula had found someone to make her smile; the willow tree was a symbol of spring, and maybe Merula’s icy exterior had started to thaw just a little bit.

“I told you Merula has a soft side,” Orion said, but something else was holding his attention.

Lizzie was standing next to Charlie and Artemis, passing a water bottle between them. Her full attention was on Charlie, her hand resting on his arm.

She must have said something cheeky, because Charlie suddenly laughed out loud and playfully pulled on the end of her ponytail. Laughing along, Lizzie nudged him into the side with her elbow.

Not once since Orion knew Lizzie and Charlie had he ever questioned the nature of their friendship, not even when Orion and her had first met. Charlie had always been like a big brother to Lizzie, and she never shied away from physical contact, especially with her closest friends.

But right now, Orion hated the way Charlie touched her, when he himself couldn’t. The frustration flared up in him so suddenly he had to look away from them.

“I know it’s hard,” KC said softly and laid a hand on his arm, “but trust me, she’s missing you just as much as you miss her. You’re just too stubborn to see it.”

Orion didn’t reply, running his thumb over the pages of his notebook instead. KC’s words were sounding in his ears and he wanted to believe them so badly it hurt.

He just wasn’t sure that he could.

[gayestnerdsinfiction]

The Sound

for your listening pleasure ;)

Edward awoke to the muffled sound of music playing in another room. Something loud with a lot of guitar. He reached blindly to the side, his hand settling on the cool, empty surface of the mattress. Jonathan had likely been up for hours at this point. Must be his music. Jonathan used to always listen to headphones when he worked until the cord got caught on something and tipped over a rack of beakers. He spent a few weeks doing his experiments in silence, but Edward could tell his focus was suffering. He was twitchy and nervous and irritable—well, he was always irritable, but even more than usual. After a period of watching Jonathan silently mope around the house all day, Edward had decided to take matters into his own hands and picked up a small Bluetooth speaker for him. Something Jonathan could have easily done himself if he cared at all about his own happiness.

Edward didn’t understand Jonathan’s need to have something playing in the background whenever he was doing a task. He was so quiet as a person that Edward would never have expected he liked having something blaring constantly in his ears. Even if he was only going to spend five minutes unloading the dishwasher, he was seemingly unable to do so in complete silence. It was like all the sounds of normal life were so abhorrent to him he couldn’t bear to hear them. When they were first seeing each other, Edward had been convinced the other man was just trying to ignore him. But it seemed like this habit persisted no matter who was around or what was going on. That made Edward feel a little better at least. Didn’t make him any less confused, though.

Edward dragged himself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The early morning air was cool on his bare legs. He spotted one of Jonathan’s sweaters that had been tossed haphazardly over the back of a chair. He picked it up, burying his face in the thick, grey wool for a moment. He could make out the smell of coffee and chemicals beneath the nearly overwhelming odor of cigarette smoke. Edward had never cared for the smell or taste of cigarettes, but he liked the way Jonathan smelled. Liked the stale taste of tobacco on his lips.

He pulled the sweater over his head and peeked out into the hall. Judging by the sound of things, Jonathan was probably down in the lab doing God knows what. Edward padded barefoot down the hall, opening the door to the basement that Jonathan had usurped for his work. He could hear the song at full volume now, all pounding drums and electric guitar riffs. Nothing he recognized.

When Jonathan had been exclusively using headphones, Edward had literally no idea what he was listening to. It was a fun game, trying to guess what kind of music this strange man liked. But it was infinitely more fun to actually know.

Edward crept quietly down the stairs, taking a seat on one of the steps where he could get a good view of the other man. He had his back to the stairs, puttering around his worktable, pouring things into other things, doing some kind of ambiguous science. Edward wondered how long it would take Jonathan to notice him, if he would notice him at all. The song transitioned out of the verse, the chorus kicking up. But it sounded different than the rest. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about the chorus didn’t match the verse.

It took Edward a few moments to really understand what he was hearing, but eventually something clicked. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Jonathan was singing. Edward glanced around the room, making sure no one was controlling his partner like a ventriloquist dummy, despite the fact that it was undeniably Jonathan’s own voice. It had the same characteristic rasp as when he spoke, low and sweet as dark molasses. He watched, mesmerized as Jonathan continued to half sing, half mumble his way through the song.

“Will you revive from the chaos in my mind, where we still are bound together? Will you be there, waiting by the gates of dawn, when I close my eyes forever?” Jonathan trailed off, bending to peer at something in his notes. “Shit,” he muttered, picking up a beaker filled with some kind of pale yellow liquid. He turned toward the stairs, making direct eye contact with Edward.

Jonathan’s mouth fell open in a mix of shock and what Edward assumed was probably anger. The beaker slipped out of his hand, shattering against the concrete floor. The liquid splattered on the ground, releasing a foul chemical smell as soon as it made contact with the air. “Fuck!” he snapped. “Look what you—what are you doing in here? You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“It’s almost ten. I woke up.” Edward hopped up onto his feet, moving to help Jonathan as he gathered shards of glass in his gloved hands. “Let me get a broom.”

“No,” Jonathan said tersely, holding up a hand to stop him. “I’ve got it.”

Edward took a step back, looking sheepishly down at the other man. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“And what exactly was the desired outcome of suddenly appearing behind me in my lab while I’m handling dangerous chemicals?” he grumbled, dumping the shards into a wastebasket. He picked up the speaker sitting on his desk, turning the volume almost all the way down.

“I was going to say something,” he lied. “But I didn’t want to distract you.”

“Well, consider me thoroughly distracted.”

Edward stared down at the stain seeping into the floor. It seemed like he always found a way to make a mess of things. “It wasn’t important, was it?”

“No, thankfully. Just a fucking hassle to redo.”

“Do you need help?” he offered. He really did feel bad about the beaker. He probably felt worse than even Jonathan would have wanted him to.

“No.”

“Can I stay and watch?”

“Why?” Jonathan asked, turning back to his notebook. “You want to break something else?”

“Technically, you’re the one who broke it.” When met with Jonathan’s icy glare he put his hands up defensively. “I promise I won’t touch anything. Or say anything. I’ll be good.” He grinned brightly at Jonathan, trying to demonstrate just how good he could be.

Jonathan rolled his eyes, waving a hand dismissively. “Whatever.”

Edward sat back down on the steps. “Will you sing more?” he asks, not thinking of how Jonathan might respond to such a question.

He tensed visibly, quickly looking away from Edward’s face. “I don’t sing.”

Typical Jonathan, oh so secretive even when he had clearly been found out. “I only heard a little bit, but it definitely sounded like singing to me.”

“I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”

“I liked it,” he continued. “It was nice. That’s all.”

Jonathan didn’t look at him. He started moving things randomly around his worktable, picking them up, putting them down. “I thought you said you were going to be quiet,” he said after a moment with a surreptitious glance over his shoulder.

Edward mimed zipping his lips shut, folding his hands neatly in his lap.

Jonathan turned back to his work, apparently satisfied. He cranked the volume back up on his speaker as the previous song ended and the next one began—a jaunty acoustic tune sung in what sounded like Russian. It was so wildly different from what he had been listening to before that Edward almost questioned whether this playlist had been assembled by more than one person. But he didn’t say anything, because his desire to be a smartass was overshadowed by his desire to remain in Jonathan’s company, at least until it was time to go back upstairs and eat something. He loved watching Jonathan work, loved the way he bit his lip when he was concentrating, the strands of dark hair that flopped into his face, the look that came over him when he had finally figured something out. Edward felt as if he could sit and watch him shuffle erratically around the lab all day.

“I love you,” Edward murmured. Jonathan didn’t hear him, his soft voice drowned out by the music and the clattering of glass and metal. Edward smiled slightly to himself, feeling just a little bit better for having said it.

[justthishumanheart]

Ask Game!!

Tagged by @dare-g - sorry it’s taken me so long, but thank you :)

Five songs you’ve been listening to on repeat recently?

1. Talking Heads - Mind - pretty much how i feel talking to people these days. everyone is in their corner and convinced they are right. 

2. The Clash - The Sound of Sinners - i’m such a sucker for gospel choirs

3. Billy Joel - Two Thousand Years - cheesy idealistic throwback to my teens

4. Maná - Clavado en un Bar (En Vivo) - that opening riff goes harrrrrrrd. this is just a fun song for such a horrible feeling. i just wanna get drunk with a bunch of other heartbroken people and shout torch songs like this one. dondé estas maldita?! estoy clavado, estoy herido, estoy ahogado en un baaaaaaaarrrrr!!!!!

5. Golgol Bordello - Ave. B - heard about these guys first from the movie everything is illuminated. the lead singer plays one of my favorite movie characters of all time. gotta love that immigrant punk!

Last movie you watched?

i decided this year to start watching movies from my birth year - this has been really quite enjoyable so far. started off at summer camp with bill murray in meatballs, then on to one of my favorite movies as a kid: steve martin’s the jerk - which would totally not fly these days with the opening 5 minutes alone. most recently i finished woody allen’s manhattan - which i quite enjoyed...though it feels like one cannot admit such things these days. diane keaton was adorable.

Currently Watching?

the twilight zone. it’s a masterpiece. the writing is incredible. 

if you know, you know

Currently Reading?

different books for different times/moods. these are my current leafy companions

1. e e cummings - complete poems - i’ve always loved how cummings breaks me out of the monotony of cliché

2. sylvia plath - the unabridged journals of sylvia plath - i’m constantly impressed and jealous of how bright and intelligent and passionate plath was at 19-20. her yearning to fulfill her potential, to live all the lives she could, to maximize all her creative power...what an amazingly bright light. i have fallen in love with the woman in these journal entries. 

3. vladimir nabokov - the stories of vladimir nabokov - i get lost in the scenes he paints and don’t want to leave

4. jon dambacher - eraser crumbs - @jondambacher is one of us! multi-talented, and incredibly insightful. i’ve loved the fragments of life he captures - he knows how to pull magic out of the mundane. check him out.

5. the short stories of ernest hemingway - hemingway will always remind me of my grandpa. all man. all the time. i can smell him and hear his deep voice when i read hemingway.

6. rainer maria rilke - the notebooks of malte laurids brigge - rilke has written some of my very favorite lines. they are not to be found in this book so far :/ so it’s been a slog - one i didn’t expect. this one has felt like a chore

7. albert camus - lyrical and critical essays - @amiwalkingincircles recommended this after i had been blown away by reading the plague last summer. what a revelation. these essays are full of a realistic but very real love of humanity. what a beautiful soul i’ve found here.

8. sylvia plath - the collected poems - more plath. her precision with words and phrases is incredible. 

9. james gleick - genius: the life and science of richard feynman - maria popova from @brainpickings​ is one of the best bloggers in the world. she finds the most incredible books (especially children’s books). she once posted about a letter the physicist richard feynman wrote to his dead wife. it is the most moving letter i’ve ever read. please check out her post about it. after reading that, i had to pick up the biography she found it in. i know embarrassingly little about physics - let alone theoretical quantum physics - but i love learning how these people think and how they attack mental problems. this book is as fun as feynman’s personality was.

[talkfastromance4]

Lost Without You-- Calum Hood oneshot

Copyright talkfastromance4 © All works is intellectual property of the author. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction or any part or all contents in any form is prohibited. You may not, without written expression and consent from the author, distribute works amongst other social media platforms

A/N: based off of Fly By Midnight’s new song Lost Without You. Give it a listen as  some of the lyrics are incorporated in the piece! 

Warnings: angst, moody and broody

Word count: 2,577

donate to my ko-fi here :)

Masterlist

Enjoy! :)

• • • •

Calum is a man of deception; the Houdini of keeping his six-year relationship hidden from the media sharks’ eyes. He’s the mastermind of averting their invasive questions of why he hasn’t found a special someone yet, what’s the hold-up, to the attention of this awesome bass riff he’s been working on. It’s not that he was ashamed of you or your love, he wanted at least one part of his life to stay private.

Part of his deception is keeping his lips sealed. He’s perfected the silent-yet-observant role of the band, only speaking when he deems it necessary and if it’s related to the band, Duke, or their music while simultaneously he was having a full conversation with you on his phone about how all the planets share the same sun.

For six years, your relationship worked amazingly well. He adored your compassion for his dream, always referring to you as his biggest fan which always made you laugh. It’s been six years of late-night calls, paragraphs shared of how much you meant to each other filled with promises of the adventures you’d have when you’re reunited again. It’s been endless voice notes of a new song he wrote, memories upon memories printed on polaroid’s and saved in a lot of albums on your phone.

For six years it worked until it didn’t.

Complacency became very apparent and the feeling of being stuck in one place crept up your neck and whispered in your ear while your friends were getting engaged left and right. While out and about you felt jealous of other couples who could freely kiss one another. Seeing the guys and their girlfriends cuddle while you were all out dinner left a burning hole in your heart while Calum was three seats away.

For six years it did work, but the comfortable bubble you were in for so long suddenly became uncomfortable and claustrophobic. It was a long break up that left you both teary eyed, your makeup cleaned off from the salt in your tears, and your voices hoarse from talking. You tried talking it through, but the only solution seemed to be taking a break.

A break from your best friend of six years, a break from a love so genuine.

It’s been six months since that miserable night where half his heart was taken and Calum doesn’t want to be by himself these days, he doesn’t want to think of himself this way without you. But he has been thinking about it, every second, every day. He’s been thinking of you constantly.

And you’ve been thinking of him too. Recently you’ve been seeing a new guy, someone from the gym you go to who has shown interest multiple times. He’s the opposite of Calum, so you thought you’d give it a try. Something different, something new.

“Why’d you decide to give me a chance now? I’m glad you did, don’t get me wrong, but I’m curious,” Matt asks while you’re out for coffee.

“I haven’t been alone since I was eighteen,” you confess. You felt a release as you finally opened about your relationship with Calum, leaving his name anonymous so Matt wouldn’t blab to the press you were dating a member of 5 Seconds of Summer.

Your heart burst open of your whole relationship, six years of memories, love, a friendship set on fire, finally released into the open.

“Then why did it end?” Matt asks while he walked you up to your door. You hadn’t realized you talked about your relationship for the whole date, how pathetic is that?

Instead of answering him, you pulled him in for a kiss that traveled to your bedroom. Opening up about Calum opened your sadness of the breakup as well. The whole time you were with Matt, you compared him to Calum in your mind. His fingers were clumsy while Calum’s were sure and precise, years and years of bass playing under his belt did wonders. His hair was thin between your fingers while Calum’s was thick and fluffy. Matt’s movements were jerky while Calum’s were fluid as water.

When it was over, you rolled over to gaze out the window, tears brimming your eyes because for the first time in six months, you felt lost without Calum. There’s another body where he used to be, and you can’t stand the thought. Thoughts of Calum left you awake until Matt kissed you goodbye and left.

Calum’s over at Michael’s, he’s on his fifth white claw and he feels the alcoholic bubbles taking effect. In his impaired state, he pulls out his phone and scrolls to your text conversation, six years’ worth of conversation still held in his phone’s memory.

Him: I miss you when it hurts

Knowing you won’t reply but hoping that you do, he stumbles to the hammock. With one foot on the earth he sways from side to side staring at the stars through the trees. He’s wondering if all those stars have been in the sky since your relationship started when his phone does the two-toned ding reserved only for you.

Excited and nervous all at once, he almost falls out of the hammock reaching for his phone that falls between the netting of the hammock. Cursing under his breath he stretches until his fingers grab hold of the device, the light of the screen illuminates his face.

Her: I’m sleeping in your shirts

His heart skips a beat, his mouth goes dry just imagining you in his shirts. He hasn’t seen his sensation shirt in two years because you stole it and claimed it yours. Every couple months he’d get it back so that it would end up smelling like him and you’d steal it all over again. He loved seeing you walk around your place in nothing but his shirts, he loved the way your ass peeked out from the hem.

Him: but seeing you would make it worse

He impatiently waits while your gray bubbles pulsate on his screen. Then they stop and then your pretty face is on his screen followed by your ringtone. Surprised, he nearly drops his phone again before answering.

“Hello?” he asks breathlessly.

“Can we still talk on the phone sometimes?” you ask.

Calum falls out of the hammock this time because he hasn’t heard your voice in so long. Six years he’s been hearing your voice in his head, on his phone, in his ear while you whisper dirty things. Six months without your voice has been hell and hearing it now, it’s like he’s at the gates of heaven.

“Of course, we can,” he finally responds climbing back into the hammock. He licks his lips. “How are you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah…I’m okay,” you respond softly. He knows every nuance of your voice; he can tell you’re telling him the half-truth. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better now.”

Over the next several weeks, you’ve been talking on the phone more frequently. You’re still seeing Matt every now and then, just to give you something to do and hopefully not think of Calum. That’s damn near impossible.

You’re on the phone with Calum while you’re sitting out on your balcony watching the sun go down. Both of you haven’t said a word in about five minutes, but hearing his breathing makes it feel like he’s right there with you. The two of you always had comfortable silences of enjoying each other’s presence.

“Can we be the exes that still stay friends?” he asks.

Your feet slam to the floor that were perched on the railing at his question. It filled you with butterflies.

“I’d like that, Calum. I’ve missed my best friend,” you admit shyly.

“He’s missed you, too.”

Matt spent the night and after your morning coffee, you laid on the floor staring at your ceiling fan as it rotates. The cool air blows on your skin and it reminds you of all the times you and Calum would lay on the floor or the grass, heads next to each other, as you talked about random things. Matt found you like that and asked what you were doing.

“Come lay with me, let’s talk,” you say reaching for his hand.

You feel his hesitancy as he lays next to you.

“What do we talk about?” he mumbles in confusion.

“Anything. Don’t you think it’s weird that Mars has the same sun we do?”

“No,” he snorts.

Suddenly, your door opens and with a rush of panic you sit up expecting to see Calum thinking that it’s him. Part of you wants him to see Matt and the other part of you wishes Matt weren’t in the picture at all. Crestfallen, it’s one of Matt’s friends who came by to pick up a video game he had. Matt leaves you on the floor and you send a text to Calum asking him about Mars and the sun.

He replies quickly with how that fact still blows his mind and you smile.

Ten months have gone by and Calum is pacing back and forth in his kitchen. Duke is following his motions, tongue lolling out and panting while the rest of the band follow the dad and dog duo. You’re coming over for the first time. For the first time since the breakup he’s going to see you and it has his stomach reeling.

“Why are you freaking out so much?” Michael asks.

“Because, it’s been so long! It could either go really well or end horribly,” Calum huffs continuing to move back and forth.

“Will you stop pacing?” Ashton demands, “you’re making me dizzy. It won’t end horribly. You’re already broken up.”

That stops Calum instantly. He glares at his best friend for his blunt remark, Michael and Luke share the same look.

“What?! I’m not wrong! What could be worse than that?”

“We’ve only started being friends again…she could decide she doesn’t even want that,” Calum sighs leaning against the counter. Duke sits at his feet.

“You’ve been friends for six years…yeah, you were also a couple, but I don’t understand how you can just stop being friends with that much history,” Ashton shrugs.

“Yeah, you don’t understand,” Calum shakes his head. Only you and he know where your relationship stands. He’d give you the moon if he could, lasso it and all that like from that movie you love so much.

The doorbell rings and Calum stands up stick straight, he breaks into a cold sweat. Michael offers to get it and when he returns, it’s only Andy and Sarah. At every doorbell Calum waits for you to walk through his door again but is met with disappointment when it’s another party guest.

Feeling defeated he collapses onto the couch, swiping through apps on his phone while the party blurs around him. Duke hops up and lays in his lap.

“Hey guys. Where’s Calum?”

Upon hearing your voice, Calum and Duke both perk up with Duke bounding off his lap and running to wherever your voice came from. Calum stands slowly, hearing your sweet words to Duke as he rounds the corner. Seeing you after all this time is like he can finally breathe again. You’re giving Duke kisses and Calum notices that your hair is different, the new cut and style takes him by surprise but you’re beautiful as ever.

Then your eyes lift to his and he swears he felt the planets align within him. When you smile it’s like he’s seeing the sun for the first time.

“Hey, you made it,” he says gruffly then mentally slaps himself. He should have said something cooler, more riveting but you smile all the same and stand up.

“Hi. Yeah, I did. I wouldn’t miss it.”

After grabbing you a drink he ushers you to a quiet corner where he awkwardly asks for a hug. You share a timid embrace, but it still feels like home. He wants to hold you forever but reluctantly lets go so you can catch up some more.

For the whole night you stay in that spot, unless he left to refresh your drinks, or you grabbed a snack that you shared on the same plate. As the last people left, you and Calum were left alone on the couch, the lights dimmed, and the music changed to something more chill.

“I thought you would’ve brought Matt with you,” Calum says. The other guy’s name leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and his next sentence tastes like bile. “I want to meet him.”

“I thought about it,” you sigh leaning your head against the couch. Your head presses against Calum’s arm that’s slung over the back and he sucks in a breath at the contact. “But it’s not working with him.”

“No? Why’s that?” he tries to sound polite.

You stare at him for a long time, taking in his dark eyes, the slight curl at the ends of his hair, his tattoos peeking from his shirt and the three moles you’ve always loved to kiss.

“I’m lost without you,” you confess.

He stares back for a beat.

“You’re lost without me?”

“These ten months have been so hard. I think about you all the time, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to come over and beg for you to take me back. But I hurt you. I know I did. I hated that night we broke up; it was one of the worst nights of my life. But why would you want me back after I threw in the towel because I was feeling affection deprived? That’s not fair. And then when you texted me…I felt so happy. This whole thing was stupid, and I understand if you don’t want—”

Calum silences you by pressing his lips to yours. You kiss back eagerly, welcoming the comfort of his soft lips against your own, your fingers immediately flying into his hair. His own hand cups your face, you melt at the warmth of his skin and a chill runs through you when his tongue slips between your lips. The world stops, the music drifts away as you kiss your best friend, your soulmate after so many days apart.

The kiss leaves you both breathless and gasping for air as you break apart, but you don’t move far, his forehead rests on yours. You caress the back of his neck while his thumb caresses your cheek.

“I’ve been lost without you, too, cupcake,” he mumbles and your heart rushes at his nickname for you. “I was nervous as shit before you came, I didn’t think you were going to.”

“I almost didn’t come,” you chuckle, “I kept imagining I’d see you with some new girl hanging off you.”

“The only girl I need is you.”

You’re kissing him again, then ask on his lips, “Maybe we should--?”

“Baby, we should start again,” he finishes for you. “We’re both different now. We’ll be different, we’ll…we won’t hide this time. You’ve been a part of my life for so long, you held my childhood that I didn’t want to let go of yet.”

“It’s not letting go, it’s moving forward,” you trace his eyebrows then poke each one of his small moles that you love because they’re like stars.

“Move forward with me?” he asks, nudging his nose against yours kissing you again. You nod against him as he pushes you onto the couch. Your love lost was found again.

• • • •

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[imaghostoooo]

Sanders Sides x Six the Musical !! Note that this is solely based on hearing the soundtrack. I haven't seen the actual musical. My brain really said "six characters??" and assigned them, huh. I'm only doing the opening and closing song for now.

Roman = Catherine of Aragon

"I'm a paragon // of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican // so if you try to dump me // you won't try that again" {Ex-Wives}

Paragon is defined by a person "regarded as a perfect example of a particular quality" or "viewed as a model of excellence". Roman being the ego, it gives me his vibes. He's also quite loyal if you manage to gain his trust and if you break it.. well. Plus -- royalty was mentioned sooo.

"Our riffs were on fire // at the top of the charts // is where I'm gonna stay" {Six}

Again, I think that feeds into him being the self-confidence and the ego. He's riffed at least thrice and constantly breaks out into song lol.

Remus = Anne Boleyn

"Yeah I'm that sexy // why did I lose my head? // Well my sleeves may be green but my lipstick's red" {Ex-Wives}

This is kind of a no brainer. Remus' whole scheme is green. And Anne Boleyn's song in general reminds me of him. Chaotic but not in a good nor bad way.

Patton = Jane Seymour

"When my son was newly born // I died, but I'm not what I seem // or am I? // Stick around and you'll suddenly see more" {Ex-Wives}

One: Patton has a self-proclaimed 'son'. Two: the puns!! Two puns!! "What I seem // or am I?" And "suddenly see more" (Seymore!) Three: the softer voice gives me Patton vibes

"You could perhaps call us // the Tudor Von Trapps // I'm just kidding // we're called the Royalling Stones" {Six}

More puns!! Ah these are brilliant!

Janus = Anne of Cleves

You could make arguments about her Ex-Wives bit but it's more compelling in Get Down and Six.

"Yeah my face // it cost me the crown" {Six}

It's not much but dude. Janus' face is scaley so I think he best fits in here. Also 'face' could be an analogy or metaphor; in this case, his 'face' could possibly be his spooky facade, leading to people (ie. Patton and Virgil, etc) not trusting him.

Logan = Katherine Howard

"For my promiscuity outside of wed // lock up your husbands"

Big words and the word play do it for me lol.

"So I thought 'who needs him? // I can give it a try' // I learned everything" {Six}

Logan values education and knowledge very much (he had a whole speech about it!) -- while that might make him fit better as Parr, having taught and written, I don't think Virgil could fit as Howard.

Virgil = Catherine Parr

""I'm the survivor, Catherine Parr // I bet you wanna know how I got this far"

Virgil is the fight or flight instinct -- also including freeze and fawn -- so I think his vigilance would make him the survivor.

"So I went out and found them // and we laid down an album // now 'I don't need your love!' // all I need is six" {Six}

This corresponds to Virgil having a sort of 'found family' character arc with Roman, Patton and Logan.

[shannygoatgruff]

Only Fan(s) - A Thriller

Genre: Thriller

Pairing: Modern Ivar/OC

Warning: Language, sex, stalking, obsession, kidnapping, sexual assault

Rating: MA+18

Summary: Sometimes OnlyFans subscribers want a little more than internet pictures. Sometimes they want to be your ONLY fan...

Header by: @flowers-in-your-hayr​

Thanks to @xbellaxcarolinax​ for being my beta.

Disclaimer: This story will deal with some topics that might be a little uncomfortable for some people. As always, I’ll try to tackle the hard stuff as tactfully as possible.

A/N: This is a fic I started 10-years ago for another fandom. I never finished it, but I loved the concept. I have an idea of what I want to do with it - hopefully, I’ll finish it this time around.

Part i - Train Wreck 

It had taken forever to get the subwoofer out of the Challenger's trunk without damaging the cords. However, it was done with such skill and precision, it appeared a surgeon had removed it. The tricky part had been hooking the stereo back up to the factory-installed speakers after the subwoofer had been removed, and making everything look nice and neat, so the car’s owner wouldn’t be aware.

It had taken longer than usual, but it was well worth it. Whoever installed this particular unit, did a really good job. They were so meticulous with their installation, right down to the intricate wiring system – not that straight out the box shit that comes with aftermarket speaker setups. It had proven to be a tedious job, but not impossible.

No matter how daunting the task of removing the subwoofer had been, it wasn’t half as difficult as hooking it up to the old iPod without the benefit of a stereo. It had been a painstakingly slow process. One wrong splice of the cord and the mp4 player would short out. But tenacity always paid off. The result looked raggedy, with cords kept in place with electrical tape, the iPod balanced on its side, held in place between two books, and a huge metal subwoofer vibrating next to it. It was ugly, but it worked.

The volume on the iPod was cranked up to the highest level. It was so loud that the walls shook with each kick of the bass drum. There was no reason to ever use a speaker that powerful in a room this size, but the song demanded it. All good music demanded to be blasted at the highest of decibels; this song in particular. It had been playing on repeat for the past hour. One song. One constant beat. One melody, and one voice screeching over that amazing guitar riff. Listening to it on anything lower than the max was the true definition of insanity.

The people staying in the room next door disagreed because they had already done everything to get her to turn it down. They had yelled, banged on the walls, kicked her door, and even called the manager. It didn't matter. The fucking neighbors could eat a dick. Even if they called the National Guard the volume wasn’t changing. This song wasn't "noise", it was destined to be a fucking classic – in her room, if nowhere else. If it was possible to play the song any louder, she would have.

These fuckstick neighbors. They were the only ones that didn't understand how places like this worked. The rule was, there were no rules – that was the beauty of it. That's why this particular room was the best choice. It was on the second floor, around the back facing the alley instead of the highway. There was nothing else on this side of the building except the five rooms on this level, garbage dumpsters, the on ramp, and a peeling billboard. What in the hell were they expecting? If one picked a shit motel, with a shit room that offered no view, why would they think it would be quiet?

Anyone could stay in a two or three-star hotel. But, a bed-bug infested No Tell-Motel? People stayed here because they wanted to get away with whatever dirt they were trying to do. That's why these places charge by the hour and not by the night. Most people wouldn't even want to stay for the entire night. Dirt didn't take that much time to commit. For the most part, the only people who stayed in places like this only needed the space for about 20 minutes…a few hours tops, if they had a lot of stamina. It was don't ask, don't tell…don't listen, don't knock. These assholes should know that. 

Annoying ass neighbors aside, the room was comfortable. The thick smell of stale cigarette smoke clung to the air was reminiscent of home. The smoky air coupled with a heavy bassline made it feel like a rock video. The only problem with the room was that it was hotter than a crack whore's crotch.

The air-conditioning unit in the sole window did little more than blow the smoke rings further around the room. It provided a nice buzzing sound that served as background noise and as a reverb for the music. There was also a burning smell that came from the window-unit being cranked up to full blast. It had been a little hard to get used to, at first, but two packs of cigarettes later, it was no longer noticeable.

The roaches sure didn't seem to appreciate the extra heat in the room. They constantly ran in and out of the vents of the air-conditioner like they were trying to find a cooler climate. Or maybe they were just hungry. The box of half-eaten pizza on the dinette table not only provided a suitable temporary home but also a hardy meal. They gathered there, grabbing their lunchtime snacks before running off to other wall cracks to share in a meal with their friends and family.

Most people would have found the place a disgusting, germ-infested, death trap. But, Torren wasn't most people. She didn't seem to notice anything in particular about her living conditions. She had other things to focus on. She had already paid for this week, and next, so what did she care? The place had all of the essentials; electricity, toilet, running water, a bed, and a TV.

Granted, the electricity was spotty, to the point that she couldn't have her flatiron and blow dryer plugged in at the same time. The toilet was so soiled that it still hadn't been determined if there were rust stains in it, or if it just had never been cleaned…ever. The water ran brown when it rained and a cloudy gray the rest of the time. It didn't get hot either, but it did get tepid if she let it run for 10 minutes, but not hot. Not hot enough to sanitize your hands, or to take a bath in.

But, it was already hot in the room, so a cold shower wasn't so bad. Besides, the tub was indescribable. If someone told her that a family of six had been murdered, and dismembered in that tub, she wouldn't be surprised. It just had that horror movie slaughter look, and the stains to prove it.

The bed was hard and lumpy and judging from the DNA left behind from past guests and holes in the sheets, they probably hadn't ever been changed. The TV was small, but at least it was in color. Hell, the room even came with its own pets, and it was only $50 for the week! There truly wasn't anything to complain about.

Torren Sykes sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, surrounded by ripped out, stolen magazine pages and color copies of photos she’d downloaded and printed at the library. She rocked her head and shoulders in a slow sway to the beat of the song playing. Haphazardly she flipped through the pages until she found a suitable picture and smiled. Picking up the scissors, she licked her lips slowly and ferried her brow, as she started the task of cutting it out.

"Goddammit!" She yelled before slamming the paper down on the bed. Stomping angrily toward the door, she pulled it open and narrowed her eyes at the man standing there. "I swear, if you knock on this door again, I'm gonna slit your fucking throat," she cringed, narrowing her eyes and pointing the shears at the man's neck.

The motel manager was taken by surprise at the half-naked woman holding shears to his neck. Standing before him was a beautiful brunette, with dark features. She had a creamy, light coffee-colored complexion – these days it was hard to judge a person’s ethnic makeup, but if he had to venture a guess, he’d think she was bi-racial. She had perfectly shaped large, almond, brown eyes that gave off nothing but a vacant stare, and a heart-shaped face. The soft dimple in her chin, and the one just at the curve of her mouth, gave her an almost angelic look. She was considerably shorter than him, about 5'5", and well built.

She wouldn't have been considered thin; she was far too curvy for that – the term slim thick instantly sprang to mind. She had thick thighs, extremely pronounced hips, and presumably a large ass. Yet, her waist was small, and her stomach flat, and big breasts. Not too big, where one would sprain their thumb trying to hold them, but they were big enough to keep any man occupied.

The manager wondered if she had some work done to get a body like that. It wasn’t uncommon for women around her to have a little nip, tuck, and a whole lot added to try to look like a vid-hoe, these days.

She was wearing the smallest pair of underwear he'd ever seen. And what was the purpose of wearing a cut off top that stopped just under her nipples? She might as well not be wearing a shirt at all. He could see the curve of the lower half of her breasts because the shirt failed to cover the lower half of her chest. If she raised her arm any higher he would have gotten a full-on nip-slip.

She glistened with a fine sheen of sweat all over her body; her long hair clung to her cheeks and neck, with it. It was almost like her hair was beating as quickly as her pulse was. He could feel the rush of heat come out of the room, as soon as she opened the door. It was like she had just opened the door to an oven. She was hot and sweaty, yet she still wore long tube socks that came up to her knees.

If she hadn't been assaulting him with a deadly weapon, it would have looked like something he’d recently seen on Porn Hub.

He had been so taken aback that he couldn't think of anything to say to her. Instead, he took a step backward and watched as she slammed the door. The entire encounter took about 5 seconds. Long enough for her to open the door, threaten him, and slam it again in his face. He wasn't sure what he was more surprised by, how she answered the door almost naked, the temperature of her room, the level of her music, the anger in her voice, or the scissors that had been pointed just inches below his throat. The whole scene was just wrong and it scared him.

In the 20 seconds that he continued to stand in front of the closed room door, he thought about what scared him the most. It was the look in her eyes. Those beautiful almond-shaped eyes were intense. They were concentrated. They had absently stared right through him. Something about those eyes wasn't right. Had she even seen him? He would never admit it, but he hoped like hell that she hadn't. He hoped that she didn't remember what he looked like. He didn't want any trouble, and he could tell that she definitely was.

Stomping her way back to her bed, Torren resumed her aforementioned position, picked up the copied photo, and started to sway to the music again. She smiled a little taking a second to run her fingers over the image on the page before she resumed cutting. Scraps of paper fell to the bed and the floor, some even stuck to her sweaty legs.

She clutched the cut-out to her chest, before falling back on the bed. Settling on her back, she held the picture up to the light. With tenderness, she brought the piece of paper down to her lips. She kissed it...him, with such passion, before sticking her tongue out of her mouth, and letting it rest on the computer paper - where his lips were, her wet tongue instantly wetting the page and smearing the ink. Planting her feet on the bed, she lifted her waist from the mattress and started to thrust upward with the beat of the song.

Seductively, she flipped over on all fours, laying the picture down on the pillows. She whipped her hair around her head, before letting it hang over her shoulder. She scooped her neck down and began kissing the picture again. As she did, she started to grind her hips hard against the balled up blankets.

She let one hand travel down her torso, toward her panties and smirked at the picture as she did. She braced herself on her left knee and elbow, before lifting her right leg out, then up. Roughly, she took her fingers and plunged them deep inside of herself. She bit her bottom lip, hard; she could taste the coppery blood on her tongue, and when she leaned down to kiss the picture again, she managed to get a nice bloody lip print on it. She twirled her hips and moaned loudly as she pleasured herself. Her eyes never left the picture. She removed her fingers, only to trace the dampness on the image before placing them in her mouth. Her taste was incredible. It always turned her on.

She had to have him. She needed him.

She flipped over on the bed, this time grabbing a magazine cover she had torn off from one of the stacks she found in the library. This one had him on the cover.

With a sense of urgency, she smoothed the waxy page down her body, before stuffing the picture along with her hand inside her panties. She closed her eyes. She felt his tongue running over her; she felt his fingers inside of her. The pillow next to her, the one covered in taped photos of him was now on top of her to simulate his body on hers, as her hand and the magazine continued to work. She couldn't get enough of him. She would never get enough of him.

In the middle of a mind-blowing orgasm, that happened to coincide with the best guitar solo ever created, blasting from the speaker, she managed to yell one word, "IVAR!" Then she flopped back on the bed in hysterical laughter.

She straightened out the magazine cover and picked up her bloody cut-out from the pillow.

Wordlessly, she stuck them both to the wall with her juices; amongst the 50 other printouts of him that hung just over her headboard. After giving him another kiss, she finally turned down the volume on her makeshift stereo, picked up a piece of pizza from the box, shook it off, then headed into the bathroom for a cold shower.

Part ii

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[existentialmagazine]

Review: Strange Company’s newest heavy-hitting alternative-rock single ‘Overrated’ encompasses hammering sound and a message of self-belief

The welsh three-piece rock group Strange Company find themselves hurtling down the same path as acts like Bring Me The Horizon, Nova Twins and Lower Than Atlantis with their own distinctly thunderous sound. With twenty years of writing, recording and touring between the trio, their conjoined forces look to offer up something not just refreshing but really god damn unapologetically loud. As yet another force born out of the anxiety and isolation of the COVID lockdowns, Strange Company are now ready to take the world by storm as things once again open up, and their newest single ‘Overrated’ is here to prove why you need to keep them on your radar.

Electric pulsations lead into the absolutely breathtaking experience that is ‘Overrated’, swiftly accompanied by thunderous drums and aggressive electric guitar strums for an unapologetically in your face introduction to the track’s dominant sound. Simmering down as the first verse glides in, things settle to just a tenderly plucked electric guitar riff, steady drum beats and a deep bassline, maintaining a moment of unexpected tranquility. But it’s not long before slamming instrumentals bring back the track’s coursing energy for one hell of a colossal chorus, tearing up the serenity and throwing you in the deep end of bombastically, head-banging highs. From the emotionally fuelled frenzied drums to the hammering guitar strums, ‘Overrated’ absolutely rips the soundscape to shreds with a hair-raising dominance, a powerful moment in the track’s continued evolution. Their vocalist wonderfully weaves between their ever-changing sound, singing along to the verses in a higher pitch though his huskier tone shining through, before the pre-chorus sees an abrupt switch into screamed moments and a rockier, charismatic chorus tops it all off. Constantly seeming to teeter on the edge of the calm before the storm, ‘Overrated’ is a song that’ll surely keep your adrenaline high and your blood pumping all throughout its alluring three minute pent-up burst of sound.

Lyrically stemming from the realisation that perspective plays a big part in our mental outlooks, Strange Company found themselves looking inwards and changing their way of thinking, channeling the viewpoint that if others were to criticise and insinuate you couldn’t do something, you’d be quick to retort you could. When opposed with our own internal self-doubt however we often lose the confidence to believe in ourselves, and Strange Company are here to remind you that these experiences are one in the same - we’re equally capable of proving our own mental dialogue wrong, as much as we are that of the opinions of others. As the chorus hook boasts ‘the time has come… you either rot here or you grow’, the group make it clear that to get through their mental challenges they know they have to find their own self-confidence to push through and grow, ultimately proving to themselves they’re capable of anything. Lines like ‘they say I’m overrated’ also go out to those who offer their criticisms, pushing through the negativity with a newfound attitude of positivity and self-belief, no longer entertaining their own unwanted thoughts or that of others. There are still moments like ‘I still can’t look my own reflection in the eye’ that display their challenges, struggling within their identity and to let go of the thoughts they’d believed to be true, but Strange Company are here to empower and motivate you past similar lows - and ‘Overrated’ definitely does that and more.

Check out ‘Overrated’ for yourself here to enjoy Strange Company’s hammering sound and poignant message!

Written by: Tatiana Whybrow

Photo Credits: Unknown

// This coverage was created via Musosoup, #SustainableCurator.

[magaprima]

Episode 6 liveblog

The way Ambrose is always like PLEASE Sabrina just listen to me.

Omg Lilith is crying on her own holding onto the swaddling and pretending Adam is still alive. And I am fucking crying so hard for her, my beautiful queen. And Hilda being like ‘ooh Adam has been so quiet’ and Lilith saying ‘he’s an Angel’ and it having a double meaning because her poor baby is gone.

VINEGAR TOM!!!!

When mambo marie is saying every returned is an eldritch terror and Zelda is just not letting go of the dog

Old friend???? Mambo marie??? Old friend???

What has harvey found...? Well this guitar feels a bit infernal. Did Harvey just open hell’s gates with a guitar riff? And it was possibly his dad’s??

Don’t say over my dead body to demons

Ah the classic dragged back in trope. Haha

Mambo is playing a game to solve this problem? That sounds extremely risky

EDWARD. And he doesn’t even know he’s dead. So poor Sabrina can’t even say she’s his daughter. And oh Zelda is in denial

OH MY GOD LILITH IS LOSING HERSELF IN HER GRIEF AND BEGGING HER SON’S FORGIVENESS. OH ITS SO AGONISINGLY PAINFUL SHES LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A FUCKING VICTORIAN TRAGEDY AND I NEED TO HUG HER AND GET HER SON BACK.

And then dr cee calling his mum the other love of his life is a bit of a wee red flag for me

Satanic panic are erm....dated.

Why was lucifer looking like himself in the past? When he was goat boy for millennia? I presume this is a glamour. Also harvey playing his own dad haha

Wait did dr Cee’s mum kill all of his girlfriends or is that just the eldritch talking?

So not sure how well this game is going with Mambo and Lazarus. Basically saying what the Nazarene did was a torment

Sabrina trying to rush out all her life to father and convince him that she’s his daughter. Wait is what he’s saying the truth? Or is this just the eldritch terror? How much is truth and how much is lie?

Oh my god Dorcas remembering that she died. This hurts more than expected

‘At least I’m still alive you walking cadaver’ is the best retort ever from Hilda to mrs cosgrove

WHY THE FUCK IS DR CEE HESITATING AGAINST SIDING WITH HILDA WHEN HIS ‘MOTHER’ IS TRYING TO FUCKING KILL HILDA?? I’m getting more bloody red flags from him now. But at least he wants her dead again haha

Oh poor Lilith constantly hearing the cries. And going to caliban to help her die because she’s so desperate to be done with this life and the grief is that consuming that she just wants to be gone. I wouldn’t say she’s suicidal, as that essentially simplifies it; this is someone who knows there’s a life beyond and has lived for thousands of years and is now done with it. And wants to end the immortality she was cursed with by lucifer. Which is different. And you understand it entirely. And it’s FUCKING HEARTBREAKING especially for someone who said that self preservation was the most important thing and that she always survives. Lilith is suffering so much

‘I was their manager’ lucifer was the manager of satanic panic pfft haha. And is still a fan of their music apparently. And Sabrina calling out his bullshit like ‘nah you can’t pull them back can you?’

And Sabrina being rejected by two fathers. Don’t worry Sabrina, mother figures are much better

Oh god Lilith is literally being driven insane by the cries of her dead baby.

LILITH PRAYING TO HECATE FOR STRENGTH. AND CALLING ZELDA ‘SISTER ZELDA’ and saying it’s for atonement breaks my heart. But the way she immediately perks up when she thinks Lazarus could resurrect her child. It’s all about Baby Adam now and my heart breaks even more

They’re summoning the dead/murdered homecoming queen?

OMG THEYRE DOING THE TIME WARP!!!!! I’m dying hahahaha I thought i would hate this band thing but this has won me over haha

And Sabrina coming in with another band entry. Interesting. GET READY TO LOSE YOUR SHIT haha. Ooh another good song choice

Lilith coming to marie and Lazarus and actually saying excuse me in genuine politeness and asking for Lazarus to bring him back. And the pain and tears in her voice and expression when she asks and when he says no. AND THEN SHE FUCKING STABS HIM IN THE BACK!!!! FUCK YES!!!

‘I didn’t do it for you’ is such a heartbreaking reply. And then marie saying ‘You will receive not the boon you sought but a boon’ and kissing her own the forehead. MY HEART CANT TAKE THE EMOTIONS OF PART 4 I CANT TAKE IIIITTTTTTTTTTT

I even teared up at the homecoming queen getting some of her retribution.

Sabrina in the battle of the bands is cheering me up though

WHY DOES MARIE HAVE TO GO BACK WITH THE DEAD??? WAIT SHES NOT MAMBO MARIE? WAIT SHES A FUCKING SPIRIT??????? SHES FROM THE UNDERWORLD?????? WHAAAT??????!!!!!!!!!!!

ZELDA’S HEART IS NOW ALSO BROKEN???????? Too many emotions!!!

And Dorcas ‘I don’t wanna be dead’ TOO MANY EMOTIONS

Omg she gave Agatha back her sanity?? How??? That was Dorcas’ parting gift? Forgiving her freed her from the madness?

Okay I am fed up of crying over Part 4. So much fucking emotion

ADAM SAID MAMA from beyond the grave he said MAMA and it comes from the doll that Adam 2.0 gave her and which Lilith has fucking kept with her. What did the chain coming off mean though? For Lilith to break the chains that bind? Or something else? Either way it’s inspired Lilith not to die but to take her revenge and take everything back. But if someone has figured out the chain thing, please tell me.

But my god Adam saying Mama and Lilith’s fucking reaction to it. Aaaaaaaaaah. I mean we know Marie was the spirit of the underworld so when she kissed Lilith’s head and said she’d have a boon, I feel hearing ‘mama’ is it, it confirms that Adam might not be in this world, but he is in the next. His soul lives which means all hope is not lost and I think that’s why Lilith doesn’t throw the blade in the fire and rethinks her entire plan and attitude. Vengeful Mother is here. But if that Mama really was Marie’s gift......ow but also beautiful.

ZELDA GOT TO KEEP VINEGAR TOM!!!! ‘MARIE’ gave it as a gift?????

too many emotions!!!!!! Too. Many. Emotions!