ahem are among the unlucky slate of musicians who got their first break at the tail end of 2019 when they released their debut album, with all the confusion and turmoil that the early pandemic years immediately brought derailing any plans they’d made for their future. The silver lining, though, is that they sound more refreshed than ever coming out the other end of that experience, with their imminent sophomore release Avoider channeling their pent-up energy musically just as much as it does lyrically.
The latest single ahead of Avoider’s release next week may also be the most COVID-weary, with the Minneapolis trio shooting through the two-and-a-half minute power-pop cut “Waterlogged” like a downhill ride as they pick up speed. The group shares that it was one of the first songs that came together for the album, explaining the palpable sense of release it embodies. “We were writing songs in ways we never had before, from various separate basements, and that certainly fed into the song’s feel of breaking out of a malaise, a trapped-ness, a kind of unresolved hope that maybe we can someday break a little loose and get free in whatever ways we need, too,” the band shares. “We wanted the song to feel like you were getting free, especially as it went on—like it feels like a celebration of that aspiration and hope even if you’re still just actually stuck.”
Contrary to that message, the track’s music video sees the trio set up in a house rather than a proper venue as they rip through the track. Working with director Marko Zitzer and producer Thomas Sellwood of the local production company Oak & Glen, the band shares that they gave the duo free reign when conceptualizing the shoot. “[It] was a real gift to us to experience and see what the song inspired for them—how they visualized that feeling of being stuck and wanting to get away. It was shot all in one day at an apartment in Minneapolis, and hopefully the joy of the shoot and hanging with Marko, Thomas, and their crew comes through in the spirit of the thing—we really felt like we were getting away for a bit just by having a hell of a lot of fun with them for the day.”
Check it out below, and pre-order Avoider here ahead of its May 17 release via Forged Artifacts.
