“Savior” by The Death of Lilies – A Song Feature

     The ability of Adam Bravin to craft songs with compellingly dark instrumentation is unquestioned. During his tenure with She Wants Revenge, he released Darkwave and Goth Rock tracks that remain in regular radio rotation. Bravin recently joined forces with Saint Avangeline as the duo The Death of Lilies. The difference with this current alignment lies in the vocal presence of Saint Avangeline, whose ethereal seductiveness heightens the shadowed atmosphere of Bravin’s soundscapes. Their song “Savior” is a striking example.
 
     The history of “Savior” is an interesting one:
  “The track was written as a theme for Arkhan the Cruel, a powerful and cinematic character from Dungeons and Dragons lore,” notes Bravin. “There was something about Arkhan’s dark, unrelenting energy that shaped the entire sound. When Lily and I first started working together, I played it for her, and the spell that had captured me instantly captured her too. From there, we reshaped it together into something entirely our own."
 
     Bevin also stated:
  “‘Savior’ is about the complicated truth that sometimes the ones who need saving the most end up being the ones who save us. It’s about the quiet strength found in vulnerability, the way pain, when faced, can turn into something powerful and transformative.”
 
     Merging ethereal with raw and unfiltered vocals, Saint Avangeline crafts a striking contrast that mirrors the depths of human emotion. Deeply rooted in her journey with mental health, domestic abuse and growing up queer, her songs offer an honest exploration of inner turmoil, rage, hope, and resilience. Over the course of two albums and several singles, the Atlanta-based artist has amassed a rabid fan base.
 
     “Savior” by The Death of Lilies

“Stay Awake” by The Mammoths – A Song Feature

     The single from The Mammoths begins unassumingly, but near-tribal percussion enters a few seconds into “Stay Awake,” signaling unpredictability. The final 80 seconds, in particular, received the message. During those final seconds, a drum-driven instrumental segment leads to a fuzzed guitar hook (at 3:39) before the song dissolves into a swirling haze of 70’s psychedelia.
 
     Still, the gold in “Stay Awake” lies between those bookends. Like the power percussion, the vocals surge with energy, yet carry an undercurrent of darkness. The delivery is more aligned with Rock, but the vocals are reminiscent of Moon Taxi. Meanwhile, the guitars define an irregularly topography, sometimes light and other times eerie (for example, at 1:42).
 
      While discussing the lyrics, The Mammoths explained:  
  We wrote this song almost entirely in the studio. When it came time to write the lyrics, we wanted them to match the eerie vibe of the track. Our hometown of Austin, TX, has seen a disturbing number of bodies turn up in the Rainey Street bar district (too many for it to feel like a coincidence). Inspired by that, we wrote the lyrics from a back-and-forth perspective between the "killer" and the "victim."
 
     The Mammoths are based in Austin, Texas. The members are David Kapsner, (keyboards, vocals) Michael Jekot (guitar, background vocals), Tyler Rush (bass, background vocals), and Tim Durand (drums).
 
     “Stay Awake” by The Mammoths

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Lyrics of “Stay Awake” by The Mammoths
You were the last one
Standing in the pourin' rain
I tried to hold back
But I couldn't hide the pain
Watched you walk away
Standin' in the cold cold shame
Thought about the remedy
I thought about the dyin' game
 
Hey yeah hey
I don't wanna play no more
Hey yeah hey
I don't wanna play no more
 
Stay awake for me
Stay awake for me
 
Crossed by the wrong one
Sleepin' in a lonely place
Can't take it back
Never forget a face
Echoes of footsteps
Lost behind the quiet rain
Onto the next one
I know they'll never die in vain
 
Hey yeah hey
I don't wanna play no more
Hey yeah hey
I don't wanna play no more
 
Stay awake for me
[Repeating]

“Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron – A Song Feature

 

      Lord Huron showed their Rock-aligned skills in a collaboration with actress Kristen Stewart – “Who Laughs Last.” It’s an adventure from the “standard” Lord Huron sound, so much so that it’s only when Ben Schneider voice is heard at 2:11 that the identity is revealed. About the single, Schneider commented:

  “I didn’t know Kristen previously but I’d been a big fan since seeing her work with Olivier Assayas, which my wife introduced me to. I kept hearing her voice when I was writing this song and just thought “what the hell, I’ll reach out and see,” thinking it was a long shot. But she said she was interested so we met up and hit it off talking about books, movies and music. She immediately got what I was going for and had great ideas to boot.”

 

     The press material related to the single interestingly explains:

  The track once again finds Lord Huron evolving at lightspeed. With Stewart in the driver’s seat, they traverse a lonely and lost highway soundtracked by a rumbling palm-muted bass riff and a high octane beat. The groove picks up as samples of garbled news broadcasts echo in waves over strings. While she grips the wheel, Stewart’s poetic spoken word chills. At one point, she confesses that staring at an oncoming storm “made me feel something I never felt before…something between awestruck and horrified…I kept my eyes on the long white lines.” Turning on a dime, the momentum picks up and frontman Ben Schneider’s vocals take hold around a hard-hitting hook, “You don’t remember what I said, but you’ll remember what I did.”

 
     “Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron

LYRICS OF “Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
After three hours at the wheel, I found myself beyond the borders of my experience
From there it was one alien world after another
Ghost towns, painted deserts, hamburger stands, neon temples
Canyons carved by patient rivers
Craters gouged by giant hunks of rock flung from who knows where
The headlights quit somewhere around mile 400
But I drove on through the darksome night
Pedal down to the floor, windows wide
Strange words repeating, repeating, repeating in my head
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
And I drove like hell
 
Above me shone a terrifying number of stars
Spelling out the cold indifference of the universe
I tried to stare at the road ahead
I saw a huge storm far off on the horizon
Dark and crawling with lightning
Just looking at that churning mass
Set in all that immense emptiness
Made me feel something I'd never felt before
Something between awestruck and horrified
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
And I laughed like hell
 
Chorus: Ben Schneider
I'm gonna leave that city far behind and get a long, long way from there
I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me and don't know where to put it
Now that I've left that place I feel like someone for the first time in my life
You don't remember what I said, but you'll remember what I did
 
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
I found no solace on the radio
Nothing but crackpots and static
UFOs and white noise
Scripture and garbled frequencies
I tried to switch it off, but the dial snapped in my fingers
The volume lodged at a distorted maximum
So loud, I never even heard the sirens
I gripped the wheel and stomped the pedal
I said a meaningless prayer through my gritted teeth
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
I laughed like hell
 
Chorus: Ben Schneider
I'm gonna leave that city far behind and get a long, long way from there
I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me and don't know where to put it
Now that I've left that place I feel like someone for the first time in my life
You don't remember what I said, but you'll remember what I did
 
I sure like the feeling of an endless road
My life is still a tale untold
I gotta stop believing in a long-gone past
If nothing stays forever, who laughs last?
I sure like the feeling of an endless road
I'm tired of doing what I'm told
I know that life is fleeting and it all goes fast
If no-one lives forever, who laughs last?
 
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
Who laughs last?
Who laughs last?
Who laughs last?