Before dropping their self-titled debut this Friday, LA synth-pop duo Paycheque are throwing a curve-ball today with the release of the guitar-centric single “Heatwave.” Following the new-wave-y album openers “Generic Actress” and “Temporary Love,” the latest cut from Alison Goldfarb and former TOPS bassist Jackson MacIntosh manages to echo the vibe-heavy ’80s aesthetic of its predecessors with a searing guitar line tearing through the track. “Before Paycheque really started, Jackson bought Allison a TR-505 drum machine for her birthday, and we initially used it on all of our songs,” the band explains. “But it was eventually replaced on every song except for this one.”
Despite the wild riffing heard throughout “Heatwave” (“Not to brag, but the guitar solo was recorded in a single take,” the band brags), it isn’t too hard to picture it as another synthwave raver in another life. Regarding the song’s subject matter, the pair adds that it’s intended as “a takedown of the greasy charmers of the world,” as well as an homage to “the likes of Saâda Bonaire and Gina X Performance—the tough Germanic hotties of the ’80s.”
Check out the music video for the track below, which also very much features a guitar, and pre-order Paycheque here ahead of its June 12 release via Mansions and Millions.
