Local shoegaze up-and-comers Knifeplay released “Promise” today, a new single and video to tease their anticipated sophomore LP Animal Drowning releasing via Topshelf Records and produced by Jeff Zeigler (whose resume includes work with Kurt Vile and The War on Drugs). In “Promise,” Knifeplay takes listeners on a tour of sleepy suburbia, and raises existential questions on individualism, fate, and the American dream.
“We are all born to be free people and artists, meant to go after self-actualization,” says songwriter Tj Strohmer of “Promise.” “But we are spit out, scared and confused, into the spiritually emaciated modern world.” Knifeplay sonically represents this confusion in the twisted instrumentation and production of the song, which features distorted guitars, toy keyboards, and a “broken” saxophone. Strohmer’s lyrics, offering a biting criticism of everyday life, bring an element of folk music to the song’s textured sound bath.
The documentary-style music video directed by Ben Turok echoes the broken promises expressed in “Promise.” In a press statement, Turok adds that the visual narrative “captured most accurately the often beautiful, sometimes bleak, always chaotic tone of our lives.”
Watch “Promise” below. Animal Drowning is available to stream on October 19th. Out-of-towners have an opportunity to catch Knifeplay live in Brooklyn, Washington DC, or Chicago this November. Full tour dates listed below.