Pend - “Sidewalk”
The Jersey City bred duo of Gina Tolentino and Matt Graham have been playing together for some time, but now, in their own words, they’ve decided to “get serious” after “years of goofing around.” Thus, Pend was born and the band cut five tracks that’ll make up their forthcoming debut EP, Take A Number, which is out on April 30th. We’re excited to premiere their first ever single, “Sidewalk.”
A lot of things on “Sidewalk” stand out. First, Tolentino’s vocals are quite unique, as her voice embodies several different styles and perfectly blends with the song’s aura. It’s sleek, yet soulful, rising from a tender, jazzy ache to more powerful registers. There’s also the very breezy, chillwave-esque guitars that lay the groundwork for the song’s melody, which I’d describe as a cross between sultry and relaxed, and the snappy beat that ties it all together. The duo pulls a few tricks out of their hat towards the end, including a smooth as hell guitar lick that’ll make you feel weak in the knees.
Tolentino shared the following on “Sidewalk,” the EP, and their journey up until this point:
The first single "Sidewalk" is a song about realizing you've been going round and round in circles within a relationship, and wondering how to get yourself out. We only realize it now, but the story of the song is really a parallel to our experience of creating this EP. We re-recorded things so many times, we made so many different versions, we went back and forth between how we were going to release it, when we were going to release it etc. etc. round and round.
It took us almost 3 years to put this 4 song EP together, which is almost embarrassing to admit, but between teaching ourselves how to self-record and how to independently release an album alongside working regular jobs, and honestly, having the courage to put something out, time ran away. I can't speak for Matt, but for me, a lot of what took so long was gaining the courage to put my own music out there. Releasing this EP is a huge personal milestone, and working through the process has been both anxiety ridden and cathartic. At one point I considered delaying the release because the way we had scheduled it, it felt like everything was coming out too fast, and there wasn't enough time to place all the pieces perfectly. I chalk it up to fear! After discussing, we realized that it's time; that we've been sitting on these songs, working on them forever, and we're ready to let them go. So, much like the song "Sidewalk", we were wondering how to get ourselves out, and we did!
Stream “Sidewalk” below!
The track is available on all streaming platforms. Keep up with Pend by following them on Instagram.
Photo by Monica Krystal Rose
