The Backseat Lovers share new song ‘Slowing Down’
American indie rockers The Backseat Lovers, who shot to fame thanks to the viral stardom of their single ‘Kilby Girl’, are preparing to release their second studio album later this month. Waiting to Spill is a classic about-face, trading in the more guitar-heavy sounds of their debut When We Were Friends for dense arrangements, acoustic guitars, and a lighter sound. It’s a wonderful record, one that shows off a band that’s more than just a single TikTok sound.
To prove it, the band has released their third preview of the new LP in the form of the new single, ‘Slowing Down’. Airy and slightly eerier, ‘Slowing Down’ comes crashing in towards the end of Waiting to Spill. After seven tracks that take on a more languid pace, ‘Slowing Down’ (somewhat ironically, considering its title) ramps up the excitement once again. A true slow burn of a track, ‘Slowing Down’ keeps gaining momentum as it grows more and more intense.
Just as the swirling electric guitars and loopy drum rhythms seem like they can’t get denser, things start to drop away as the piano comes looping into the arrangement. The chaos doesn’t stop, and each new keyboard hit adds another powerful crash to the song’s crescendo. Then, just as it hits a peak, everything drops away to a single droning note. It’s a wonderfully clever bit of arranging, but not in a way that comes off as pretentious or forced. It’s just good songwriting, something that The Backseat Lovers are getting better and better at.
‘Slowing Down’ has already been previewed live, so diehard fans that have caught the band in some of their post-pandemic shows have probably heard the track already. For the rest of us, ‘Slowing Down’ shows a more contemplative and mature side of The Backseat lovers without any of the groan-worthy boringness that usually comes with those designations.
That’s how Waiting to Spill feels as a whole. If you gravitated toward The Backseat Lovers because of their peppy first album, then Waiting to Spill will come as a bit of a surprise. It’s a journey worth taking, even if it means forsaking the sound that got them famous in the first place. That’s what a good artist should do, after all: test the boundaries. It’s not like they’re playing jazz, but The Backseat Lovers are trying to add a bit more substance to their sound. I would argue that they’re doing it successfully.
Check out the audio for ‘Slowing Down’ down below. Waiting to Spill is set for an October 28th release.
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