Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, who perform together as Hovvdy, are preparing to release their fourth album True Love this Friday. The Texas duo revealed that this new set of songs was written specifically for themselves and loved ones. “Spending less energy consumed with how people may respond freed us up to put our efforts into creating an honest, heartfelt album,” they explained in a press release. Today, they’ve shared one last single before we get to hear the album in full. It’s called “Blindsided,” and it’s a balmy composition of pedal steel and waterfall piano notes.
Martin’s vocals speed up a bit during the verses, memories hitting him like a storm-building gust of wind. His senses are animated by the past: “Hot summers where I come from / Cold Bud in a Solo cup / Fresh Air on the radio / In the shade of the back porch / Mama say’s she’s mad at you.” These colorful memories, pitted against the comforting swell of instruments, grant Hovvdy with the power to transport us back to their past, one that feels familiar even if for us it’s unknowable.
“There was a huge magnolia tree across the street from the house where I grew up,” Martin detailed about the single. “I have this vivid memory of a storm rolling in and climbing up so high I stuck my head out the top. This song is filled with similar memories, the kind that push and pull you. I was so scared and I was so happy.”
Watch the Hayden Hubner–directed video for the track below.
