By shelz.
Warpaint has been a carefully tucked away secret, passed along from one indie obsessive to the next for quite a while. Loving the small fan community, yet wanting your latest musical find to actually do well so they can continue to make music is a bitter sweet conundrum these folks have to work through sooner or later. The time comes when you have to lay the I-know-what-you-don’t arrogance aside and allow the rest of the world to love just like you do. Pour some out. Light a candle. Do what you have to if you have been quietly nodding your head to the sounds of LA’s next big thing for the last couple of years. The rest of us are figuring this out.
Their first full length album, The Fool, is due to hit the market next month. The first single from that album, “Undertow” has been released for free to heighten the album’s buzz, if that’s possible.
Don’t let the aggressive name fool you, this is an all girl art rock quartet that has made its name on hazy, angelic harmonies and psychedelia smeared instrumentation. Even the song at hand is a study in opposites. The word undertow suggests a negative aggression; a control that you fight. However, the ladies from Cali give you a misty tune that incorporates soft harmonies and spare instrumentation as they describe a passive stance in a worrisome evening. It morphs and moves in waves, turning itself into something quite different than the beginning would suggest.
There is a hint of disconnection here, and a lack of emotion and energy at times, but I believe that is the point. The stoicism makes the slow upswing of the song even more dramatic. Then again, I could be wrong. So I’ll say excuse me to the folks who have been immersed in this sound for the past few years because I’m new to this bandwagon. You better believe though, I’m not going to be the last to climb on.
Warpaint – “Undertow”
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