For the past decade, New York band Caveman have been crafting upbeat indie rock peppered with iridescent synths. Their last album Otero War came out in 2016, and today they’re announcing their next album, Smash, which was produced by Nico Chiottellis. Most of Smash was written after the passing of vocalist Matt Iwanusa’s cousin. The album was heavily inspired by this loss, including the title, which was her nickname. The album’s lead single “Helpless” is a prism refraction of echoey synths and gentle vocals from Iwanus. “Tell me why you feel helpless / Tell me now,” he orders during the chorus.
The core of “Helpless” deals with overcoming the bruises and scrapes of unavoidable loss. “’Helpless’ is a song about not giving up in a situation where you will inevitably fail,” says Iwanus. “But maybe being naive enough to still believe you won’t. It feels like the crash before a long journey of self discovery and your search for answers.” Although most of us are convinced that evading failure or imperfection is the ideal way to navigate life, without the hurt and pitfalls we miss out on the aftermath of growth; we might miss out on learning about ourselves, what we value, and how to reconcile that with realities of this world.
Watch the track’s psychedelic video below.
