PACKS, the Toronto project spearheaded by Madeline Link, has a debut album called take the cake coming out next month, and today they’ve delivered another delight from it called “Two Hands”. Link told NYLON:
“This song is quite literal! On the walk home with muddy shoes and a light, almost delirious feeling in my chest that only stomping around in the mud can bring, I started humming the tune and the lyrics followed. A walk can transform your outlook on life, whether you are enraptured by a sunset full of colours only imagined in cartoons, you receive a sweet acknowledgement of existence from a stranger, or you get into a yelling match with a raving skeletor.“
Indeed, PACKS puts us right in that cartoonishly beautiful place by evoking a “Simpsons sunset” in the opening line. From there she takes us off on her stroll with her, smiling and saying hi to all the passers by, her guitar strums and the simplistic drums animating our paces. There’s darkness lurking on the fringes, but Link remains upbeat, declaring that she “pulls her pant legs high / so I don’t get caught in the quicksand”, and “Two Hands” remains determinedly lighthearted and sweet in the face of everything that might dent the mood.
PACKS’ debut album take the cake comes out on May 14 through Fire Talk / Royal Mountain (pre-order/save). You can find the band on Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp.
