A couple months ago, darkwave duo Boy Harsher announced that they made a horror film titled The Runner and an original soundtrack to go along with it. Vocalist/lyricist Jae Matthews and producer Augustus Muller are releasing both items on January 21 via Nude Club/City Slang, and today they share the second single from the soundtrack called “Give Me a Reason.”
“With ‘Give Me a Reason,’ we wanted to write something that encapsulates that feeling of yearning the way we feel when we catch eyes from across the room,” Matthews explained in a press statement. “Our music can be flirty and crushable, and it’s fun to play with that.”
Over spunky, metallic drums and ominous synths, the vocals coo: “Speak of the devil / And she will appear / Afraid of the runner / Who draws herself near.” Simply reading the lyrics makes them seem like a haunted folk song, or maybe something you hear when you’re a kid and the older teens are trying to scare the shit out of you. But Matthews’ voice is distinctly dark and seductive, placing the track in a weird space between mantra and cautionary tale.
Listen to “Give Me a Reason” below.
