The three extraordinary musicians at the heart of L.A. Witch — singer-guitarist Sade Sanchez, bassist Irita Pai, and drummer Ellie English — seem to be in telepathic communication with one another. Their music is an amalgam of genres, splicing together elements of punk, psychedelia, darkwave, and classic rock. Their upcoming album, DOGGOD, acts as a sort of thesis on the conflicts, choices, and unanswerable questions that come from embracing and exploring the vast natures of love and affection.
Their latest single, “The Lines”, embraces the angularities of late-70s punk rock, while also dousing the music in a haze of 3 AM desperation. The bass slithers and ripples like a snake gliding across water as the drums pummel the surrounding structures. It’s a punchy, raucous slice of rock that leaves you feeling sweaty and exhausted and futilely trying to neutralize the adrenaline pumping through your body.
‘The Lines’ for me is a key song in terms of production on this album and the shift in our sound,” says Sanchez. “We used a lot of effects we hadn’t utilized as much before like Chorus, Flanger, and string machines including the Solina and Roland VP330. This is the link between our surfy, California garage influences and our faster, colder influences…You could even say our more European influences.”
The video for “The Lines” was directed by Sydney Mills and features ASL interpreter and dancer Lark Detweiler.
“The ASL featured in the video is a unique expression of the emotions in Sade Sanchez’s lyrics, personally interpreted and translated by Detweiler,” Mills explains. “The song ‘The Lines’ features repeating lyrics, but Detweiler wanted to explore the many ways ASL can represent “lines”—tracing the shape of a person, drawing a boundary between two people, or even shooting an arrow toward the stars—each reflecting how humans redefine and interact with lines in unique ways.
By interpreting language into movement, we can express something deep about the struggles of being alive, stuck with a body beyond our control with feeling that can’t always been expressed with words alone. Some of us have to sing. Some play music. Some dance. Some sign. In “The Lines,” Detweiler is a warrior apostle, calling us toward a realm where the raw, blaring sounds of L.A. Witch ignites both ecstasy and the rebellion of true expression.“
Watch the clip below.
DOGGOD is due out April 4 on Suicide Squeeze. You can pre-order the album here. Follow the band on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
