The Solars - "Thanks For the Gifts, But Those Groves Are Now Myths"
Miles Hewitt, the frontman of The Solars, described the band’s new single, “Thanks For the Gifts, But Those Groves Are Now Myths,” as a “quarantine track, through and through.” And true to his word, the song sounds as if it was born out of a tiny, claustrophobia-inducing Brooklyn bedroom. That’s not a knock at all, as The Solars really capture the kind of restlessness that slowly sets in after months of isolation in an urban setting - a situation that many are currently experiencing. The song has a kind of urgency and immediacy that’s straight-up soul-stirring, opening up with an ominous-sounding bassline that thumps right along and leaves you waiting on every note with bated breath. There’s also a tension that slowly bleeds out of the song’s bluesy guitars and heart-pounding beat. Hewitt’s voice lends some comfort to cut the tension, as it sounds like a familiar combination of Britt Daniel and John Lennon, but he also delivers his words with a bit of sarcastic bite, particularly in track’s driving refrain of “how long you gonna keep on running headfirst into that tree, girl?” He projects just the right amount of lip to make it really stick. The ending is also particularly quick and dramatic, as after almost three minutes of bubbling suspense, the song abruptly stops and segues into a short, sputtering drum beat. It’s the sonic equivalent of driving off a cliff and a fitting ending to a powerful tune.
Hewitt conceptualized and recorded the track last fall with several remote contributors, including Karl Helander (drums, drum processing), Quetzel Herzig (percussion, loops), and Andy Cass (mixing).
Stream the track below!
“Thanks For The Gifts, But Those Groves Are Now Myths” drops tomorrow! You can pre-order it via Bandcamp. You can also check out The Solars on Spotify, Instagram, and Facebook.
