Icarus Phoenix Ramp Up For An Album Release with "Choke" Single
- BuzzSlayers
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
An experimental but driving new indie pop-rock single from Icarus Phoenix delivers white a robust atmosphere by bringing together elements of energy and edge, mostly coming from instruments like the drums, and this almost colorful, more lush balance from the guitars and vocals for the most part. This is a great combination because it allows for a story to be told, as you are able to pay more attention to the lyrics while you get this great mix of approaches.
"Choke" feels like a song about unhappiness. It's about finding the right words to say to someone, while realizing it doesn't really matter if you say it to them or not.
It's about seeing someone in a set of beliefs, set in their ways, and wanting to get as far away from that as you possibly can.
You want to speak to them, but again, there's no point. They won't hear you.
I kind of like this sentiment a lot simply because it works in such a universal fashion. The world is such a strange place these days that this could be about more than one person, indeed.
However, this is just how I interpreted the song. Others may take it a little differently. It could all be about a particular relationship between two people.
I feel like each listener who hears the song will take it in slightly differently than the next. This is part of the beauty of songs like this.
The single has amazing guitar work that really goes through a great progression and takes you along for the ride, while the drums give you an almost disco-like four-on-the-floor style beat. This gives the bop to the track and makes it super danceable for those sections.
Even though the song has all of that, there's also a bit of spaciousness in its underbelly and depth in its layers.
Still, it brings this bit of brightness to it, which I really liked because the combination of lyrics that have a bit of a darker approach, with the brighter, more colorful instrumentation and songwriting, is a great combo.
Some of my favorite bands of all time have a similar formula.
There are parts of the track that get a bit heavier; the guitars are edgier, more distorted; the drums are hitting faster and harder; there's a lot of rise in intensity that happens throughout the track, and this is all part of why you kind of get swallowed up by it.
I feel like the sections that sort of explode into a heavier rock segment with augmented chords all go along with the emotion of being frustrated. Because part of the song is about being frustrated at that particular situation. Wanting to say something to someone, but it doesn't matter because they're so set in their ways that they won't listen to you.
It's a frustrating sentiment, and the explosive, more tense parts of the song kind of go along with that.
The lyrics can be a cross between descriptive and metaphorical all at once. Some of them are very straightforward. For example, there's a little Bridge section of the song where everything dies down, and you hear just guitar and vocals. During this part of the song, the line that's being sung is " I've learned a lot in the past few years, and none of it was good".
Once again, reaching into a different interpretation but also being straightforward at the same time.
This was a very in-depth kind of track, and it gives you a lot to chew on lyrically and instrumentally.
I listened to this track on the Icarus Phoenix Bandcamp page, and when I did, I also caught an acoustic version of this track, which was really amazing as well.
I like the full band version a little better; the acoustic version brings out a different emotional side. It becomes a little clearer, and you can hear the pull of regret or sadness in the performance a bit more.
Either way, it's definitely got a lot of emotional push and pull, which is something that goes with the territory when writing songs about anything that means something to you.
I would definitely listen to this track with headphones on, and I would do both versions.
You can listen to both right in a row on that Bandcamp page, and it's well worth it.
Now, as far as we can tell, this is a track that is meant to be a bit of a glimpse, as the band is planning to release a full album this April.
I'm certainly hoping for a bit more of this, because you're getting a lot of personality in this song, mainly because of how honest and upfront it is.
I think that speaks volumes.
At any rate, check this song out for yourself and see how it affects you.
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