Jimmy Whispers is likely a familiar name to anyone remotely familiar with Chicago’s DIY scene a decade ago, with the multi-hyphenate artist managing to book an opening set at seemingly every house show across the city where he’d hand out copies of his Summer in Pain zine before herding everyone into the venue space where he’d perform a set over instrumentals beamed in through his iPod. While the shows made for a full experience, the tracks translated remarkably well to Whispers’ debut album (also called Summer in Pain) in 2015, which, after a move to LA and new career ventures as a filmmaker and co-writer on his peers’ songs, he’s finally announcing the follow-up to.
The Search for God follows Whispers’ signing to Carpark Records, and the album’s first single “Hellscape” manages to capture the highs and lows of COVID isolation in under two minutes. While the instrumental revives his instantly familiar sound, he cites the nostalgic pull of the Midwest emo songwriting he grew up on as an influence, reflecting how many of us spent our downtime revisiting our high school music library during lockdown. Meanwhile, the lyrics take on more serious matters familiar to Summer in Pain’s handling of topics related to mental health and community.
“I wrote this song after an old friend I hadn't seen in six years or so called me and spoke to me candidly about their suicide attempt in COVID isolation,” Whispers shares. “I thought about how I wished there was something I could do, and like so many situations, there was nothing more that I could do than I wasn’t already doing. Answering the phone and giving them support at that moment was it. I wrote it in a few minutes.”
The single arrives with a self-directed visual for the track, which you can find below.
