It feels like only yesterday that Oldham County’s Knocked Loose gave us new music in the form of their Mistakes Like Fractures three-track in early April. Yet here we are at the end of May, and here we are with new music to get the blood gushing from our ears.
Eager fans in the Southern Hemisphere noticed it first, and now the whole world is beginning to wake up to the band’s brand new single “…And Still I Wander South”. Straight to the point like we’ve come to expect from the hardcore outfit, the song is unrelenting from its earliest moments with ferocity dripping from every syllable, every drum beat and every pluck of a string. Knocked Loose can’t write a bad song, and it shows.
Sonically, the song seems to follow the path set by last month’s three-track. It seems to walk the tightrope between metalcore and hardcore than the Laugh Tracks LP, while its production feels rougher than said album too. Defying any real genre, all that you really need to know about this song is that it sounds humongous and hits even harder.
“I spent so much time focused on the difference.”
Thematically, the song seems to focus on being trapped within a vicious cycle of self-loathing and the inability to drag oneself out of the hole. It alludes to no matter how hard you try to escape, we all find ourselves inexplicably digging ourselves deeper down. Garris’ vocals convey a feeling of overwhelming helplessness, lyrics like “I cast out a prayer for wings, anything to remove this vice”, alluding to those same feelings.
With a deceptive run time of just under four minutes, it’s a minute-long ring out that closes out the song, giving listeners time to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. Ominously, it’s what comes next that should have alarm bells ringing as keen listeners can pick up the slightest suggestion of vocals leading into whatever song is to follow “…And Still I Wander South”. If this song isn’t enough for you, whatever comes next surely will be.
Shared alongside a music video and the announcement of the band’s sophomore LP A Different Shade of Blue, it’s a great time to be a Knocked Loose Fan. The video is dark and rough, and just strange enough to scare you a little bit, kind of just like the actual song. The visuals are consistent with those in the “Mistakes Like Fractures” video, which is also set to appear on the album, with the colour blue a prominent feature of both.
Who knows just what we’re in store for when A Different Shade of Blue releases, on 23rd August. Yet if this song is anything to go off, we best all get ready to get our asses belted by the band doing it better than anybody else right now. Pre-order here: knockedloose.merchnow.com
