A couple of years ago, Her New Knife came out of this Philadelphia indie world with a chilly, discordant take on guitar music. Their 2024 EP chrome is lullaby came out on the Julia's War label, and their remixed track "mouth+++" made it onto our list of the year's best shoegaze songs. Since then, they've covered Björk and contributed to They Are Gutting A Body Of Water's KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II mixtape.
Now, they've shared their first new single since the EP dropped. Her New Knife's latest single "lyre" starts out as a brooding, splintered post-punk track with serious Sonic Youth vibes, and it explodes into something heavier at its conclusion. It's a nervous, uncomfortable mood piece that never really fits the shoegaze label.
In a press release, frontman Edgar Atencio calls it "a simple and beautiful pop song." That's not what I hear, but I think it's cool that that's what he thinks it is. He continues: Started with an arrangement I did on classical guitar. During a moment where I felt generally disaffected by music, writing this song and playing more classical guitar invigorated me, and this song was a catalyst for the final push towards finishing our album.
The drums are a love letter to UNKLE and Massive Attack. The glassy guitar parts are just Ben and I’s affinity for piano-like textures. There is also actual piano on the song.
The song is not deep; the lyrics are essentially "I love music." Her New Knife are about to head out on tour with Slow Pulp. Below, check out "lyre" and their tour dates. TOUR DATES:11/09 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *11/10 - Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry *11/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *11/13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *11/14 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *11/16 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *11/17 - Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall *11/19 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *11/20 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *11/21 - Madison, WI @ The Sylvee *03/31 - 04/04 - Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest
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