The concept of the five stages of grief has become ubiquitous to the point that it basically invites parody—but that doesn’t make it any less surprising when we identify our seemingly irrational behavior as fitting neatly among one of these stages. Such was the case with Atlanta-based songwriter Bailey Crone before writing her latest single as Bathe Alone, titled “Archive 81,” when denial proved as much a motivating factor for the dream-pop track as ’80s soft rock appears to have.
“I wrote this song right after getting divorced, and I really didn’t know what was happening in my life,” Crone explains before sharing how the Netflix series the song takes its name from fits in. “I thought it was dumb that all I wanted to do was pick up where we left off and finish this TV show, but the thought of that was comforting. Amidst all the chaos, sometimes you just need to feel like you’re doing something normal—that’s part of denial, and that’s where this one came from.”
The track lands midway through Bathe Alone’s tour dates alongside Vacations and Last Dinosaurs, while it’s also recently been confirmed that Crone will be performing at SXSW 2024 in March. Check out the track below, and find tickets for the remaining West Coast tour dates here.
