The Slow Country share vibrant new single ‘Through Your Teeth’
The Manchester and London-based indie rockers have put together a monumental new single ahead of their latest run of UK shows.
Photo: @heartsh6ker
“I could hear you singing through the floor” is how The Slow Country’s breathtaking new single Through Your Teeth kicks off, reeling us into its tense, atmospheric world from the get-go. It follows double A-side singles Firing Line and In The Mud that landed last year.
The track gives us an exciting glimpse of what The Slow Country are capable of: by the time the army of noise marches in — as the track’s eerie opening explodes into vibrant colour — it’s impossible not to be all in.
What follows is a series of joyous lyrical callbacks to The Clash and Leonard Cohen as they reference the former’s Straight To Hell and the latter’s magnum opus Hallelujah. Through Your Teeth uses these callbacks to amp up the melancholic nostalgia while the joyous call-and-response backing vocals in the verses offer up a wonderful contrast. It’s emotive, but it’s also intense and joyously infectious. The song continues as tons of Pavement-inspired jubilant guitar lines punctuate the impassioned vocals. The Slow Country have somehow managed to toe the line perfectly between being deeply moving and honest, yet also incredibly fun and endearing.
As the song progresses, we are hit with a slow, building outro with a repeated mantra of “Came out of your heart / Straight into your veins / Up through your lungs / And into your brain / Over your tongue / Straight through your teeth / Does it matter to you? / You know it matters to me.” It builds and builds in sheer intensity and absolutely forces its way into your head through sheer force of will. It bursts into cinematic glory with a wall of XO-era Elliott Smith strings that crash into glorious electric guitars. It’s ambitious, and it’s the sound of a confident band absolutely going for broke. Simply put, I could listen to this outro for hours. The Slow Country have put together a movie within a song. It is five and a half minutes of pure cinematic noise.
The only downside to the raw, honest power of Through Your Teeth is that I haven’t yet had the chance to catch it live. I’m sure it will explode into a hurricane of raw, noisy and guilty emotions. Thankfully, the band are going on tour with Gently Tender very soon. I’ll be there. After hearing Through Your Teeth, I have a feeling that you will be too.
Through Your Teeth is out now via Heist or Hit.
