Single Review: Warpaint – New Song
Warpaint are cool. Everybody knows it. Their free spirited demeanour, which comes through their music, is something that instantly attracts any listener. You might not get it, but you like it. They were doing hipster before it was stretched to extremes and became annoying. Basically, they were doing it when it was cool and new and interesting. On a personal note, as a bass player, anyone who looks that cool playing a white, vintage Rickenbacker 4001 in an Adidas hoody has got my attention.
And now that I’ve got yours, the girls are back with a brand new single aptly titled ‘New Song’ because why not? They’re Warpaint and they can. It’s been released ahead of their recently announced third studio album, ‘Heads Up’ to be released later this year.
‘New Song’ is everything one would expect from Warpaint; It’s cool and emotive with the right amount of obscurity. It’s also intelligent, seductive and without a doubt grooves so hard. The track presents a perfect blend of classic Warpaint and the new, much anticipated Warpaint material. In the song, Stella Mozgawa lays down the foundations in the form of a fat disco drum groove, supported by Jenny Lee Lindberg’s syncopated, off-beat bass line. Both bandmates collaborate for that perfectly sculpted bass and drum sound heard on their previous albums ‘The Fool’ and ‘Warpaint’.
The textural effect of synth pads is replaced with a rhythmic lead pattern, made from samples of the band’s autotuned voices. In doing this, they have structured the song such that each element is individually contributing to the track, rather than just being a supporting player. This idea carries on too into the guitar parts. On their previous efforts, they relied on a lot of reverb and delay as they quietly yet beguillingly noodled around chords. However, on ‘New Song’, the guitars focus around one motif that appears after each chorus and acts as checkpoint throughout the song, allowing the song to sink deeper into the mind of the listener upon each return.
The new release doesn’t exactly scream classic Warpaint, but that’s okay. Instead, the single gives us a glimpse of how the girls are progressing and how they can change things up in their music. ‘New Song’ provides comfort in knowing the strides Warpaint are making to return, and if this is just a snapshot of what it will be, I can’t wait for the album to drop!
8/10
Stream ‘New Song’, the new one (no pun intended) from Los Angeles rockers Warpaint below. Their third album ‘Heads Up’ will be released via Rough Trade Records on 23rd of September. For more coverage of Warpaint on TGTF, follow this link.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PhAMlJDMeI[/youtube]
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