Chosen by Monk
My latest audio-visual choice for your combined delectation is only the second ever single from this Brighton-based pan-European combo, who combine a sense of smouldering foreboding and some serious bottom-ended heavy riffing, evoking the spirit of the likes of Red Fang and Baroness:
Vocalist Katie Oldham told me a bit more about the song and its background:
I fully believe that whatever divine intervention first brought the seeds of this song into our lives was not going to let us form it incorrectly, as our first attempts at completing it were thwarted. Notably, this was very soon after we visited a museum of magic and witchcraft whilst on tour. Throughout the whole process of writing this track there seemed to be this kind of mystical guiding force nudging it away from being anything other than what we ended up with. When the final vocal melody mainlined into my brain from this mysterious otherworldly donor, I instantly knew the lyrics needed to be about witchcraft.
Our bassist Vlad had recently learned a tale about an ancestor of his who was regarded as a ‘superwitch’ in her village and the townsfolk would go to her for healing with herbs and medicines. That was until fear and hatred gripped the people and they eventually turned against her, forming a mob to drive her from her home and execute her.
This misidentification of a friend as a foe out of fear is something we still see prevalent today, and I wanted to channel her POV into the lyrics. They communicate her frustration and lament this misperception of her as an enemy instead of an ally, detailing how the most important thing in the world is being able to recognize who the real villain is. The song culminates in a final warning to the people who wronged her, the mortal folk who live in fear of losing their wealth and material goods when none of it will matter in the end: ‘It’s all about the coin you never thought that you would have to spend.’ That final coin being the price you pay with your life, at the inevitable end.
- Slung play The Apple & Parrot in Torquay on Friday 22 November, the Portals All-Dayer at The Victoria in London on Sunday 24 November, JT Soar in Nottingham on Friday 6 December and Alphabet in Brighton on Saturday 6 December.