Michael the Band is the brainchild of—you guessed it—a band of Michaels: Mike Vernon Davis and Harry Michael Smith. While the former’s studio expertise has benefited the likes of Great Grandpa, Pool Kids, Ratboys, and Foxing, the latter has long been an integral part of Seattle’s local music scene.
Yet as exhibited on their latest single as a duo, “Tough Trust,” their greatest powers may lie in their collaborations with each other, with the soaring new single invoking the post–Passion Pit era of stadium psych-pop while lyrically spelling out the sense of faith they have in each other. “With tight bonds and tough trust, we can get through these hard things in life and use them as fuel to become excellent,” shares Smith.
Landing ahead of their sophomore album of the same name set to arrive on September 29, the track arrives with a Hannah Schmidt–directed music video that appears to illustrate a couple working through tough times in the midst of a carefree road trip only to fall back on the stable foundation that lends the track its name—before, well, things take a dark turn.
See for yourself below, and pre-order the record here.
