A Country Western has no problem picturing the end of the world. It looks like a wasteland of rot and pollution, and it sounds like the bewitching build-up of “Ridgeline.” The second single from their forthcoming album Life on the Lawn, the Philadelphia-based band once again tests the limits of the shoegaze and slowcore that defined their previous releases. An eerie glimpse at the “fantasy catastrophe” made entirely possible by the ongoing climate change chaos some choose to ignore, the tense guitars collapse into an urgent yet apocalyptic end that doesn’t feel that far from the terrifying reality we’re immersed in.
“Ridgeline” details band members Derek Hengemhile and Garrett Miades reconnecting with the outdoors for the first time since childhood in the wake of the pandemic. “I tried to capture the feeling of re-entering into the natural world with a newfound understanding of its ongoing destruction,” Hengemhile explains. “It is about overcoming that sense of guilt and giving into the lack of control that we don't get to experience in places like the city or online. I don't think it is necessarily a grim song, it's a hopeful plea that we'll be able to experience and enjoy what's left of the planet before it's too late.”
You can check out the video—which was shot, directed, and edited by Tyler Kimble and Andrew Caplan—below, and you can pre-order Life on the Lawn, out March 29 via Crafted Sounds, here.
