Palehound aka El Kempner is releasing a new album called Eye On The Bat in mid-July and she has this week unveiled the third excellent single from it, “Independence Day”. They reveal:
“The ending of a relationship that spanned the majority of my twenties illuminated a forked road that daunted me. In the aftermath of our breakup, I found myself dwelling on what that other life would have been like and who I would have become had we chosen differently, or even if circumstance or tragedy had chosen for us.”
A chugging and tactile rocker, “Independence Day” drags us right into Kempner’s dejected post-break-up state, feeling numb at all the holiday fun going on around. The revelry sends them into reminiscences of better times with their ex, wishing they could “take it all back / Join the neighbors and go dancing / With a rocket and a six pack”. In their wallowing, their treacherous mind tries to tempt them into imagining where they’d be now if they had never been in that long-term relationship, but they fight against it, repeating “I don’t wanna see that other path” as the song’s guitars escalate in a sharp U-turn away from that mental door to desolation. Instead they’ll just have to sit in their sadness and try to enjoy the fireworks.
Watch the video for “Independence Day” below or find it on streamers.
Palehound’s new album Eye On The Bat arrives on July 14 through Polyvinyl (pre-order/save). Follow Palehound on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
