Divorce are a new Nottingham-based band who have been signed by ever reliable tastemaking label Hand In Hive. Today they share their debut song and video, “Services”, with singer Tiger Cohen-Towell saying:
“Both teenage dysphoria and the reluctant ascent into the chaos of my mid-twenties meet each other in this track. I looked back on the suffocating boredom and the pain of being 16, and how I longed for the simplicity of human closeness and car journeys. I wanted to channel a zeitgeist that we all feel in touch with, pain, trauma and cacophonous emotion; summarised in the mundanity of a service station.”
Setting a song on a long car journey and a service station doesn’t sound exciting, but Divorce turn it into a kitchen sink drama with their stark shifts in sound – and Cohen-Towell’s captivating vocal and lyrical performance. It starts sunnily enough, cruising on pinging guitar and drums while Cohen-Towell delivers a sing-song melody, but piques of emotion are not far away. It seems the singer is trying to keep a calm lid on the frustrating behaviour of her fellow passengers, but it’s not long before it comes frothing out in a torrent of indignance and insecurity, the guitar bubbling up in a geyser of fuzz to match the shift in mood. Divorce switch back and forth between these affable and annoyed dispositions, the drama heightening brilliantly with each see-sawing change in tone, until we reach a beautifully blustering finale.
Check out the video for “Services” below, or listen on streaming platforms.
“Services” is out on Hand In Hive. With more hopefully coming soon, make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
