Thank you to the folks at Indie-Music.com for giving our new single “Dark Horse” a shout out. In this interview, songwriting McKenna Rowe explains how the musical arrangement came together and the story behind the song.
Songwriting
We like to say this song is Blondie meets NIN. It has a pop vocal melody juxtaposed against a darker, industrial-pop soundscape. The core element on this song contributing to the groove is the arpeggiated electronic sound and the sinister, low-end dirty synth guitar part. We added in an industrial-disco-funk beat. the eerie synth melody at the start of the song really signals that something subversive is about go down.
Recording
This song was a pretty straightforward four on the floor kind of beat, so drummer Garrett just made sure to match that with some added intensity and tasteful fills. We put a lot of heavy, crunchy room verb on the drum fills to make the contrast to the steady electronic beat. Garrett is one of those drummers who inherently understands less is more. You often can tell on our songs where the electronic beat ends and the drums begin and we like that! The onus of this song is all on the bass player. It absolutely requires heavy slap bass, and Jake nailed it!
Meaning
The lyrics for this one were inspired by friends that are exploring the polyamory scene and the stories about their experiences. The song is written from the POV of a rather experienced woman/leader within this scene, who spies a new person…the “Dark Horse” (the man hanging in the back, the most attractive, but the most mysterious and low-key). He has some special kind of kink or need and she is trying to figure out what that is and to help him with it. She asks “Why be alone in your secret”. While we support anyone’s creative self-expression as a sexual being, provided it’s all consenting adults, my impression of the polyamory scene is that most people involved are very desperate for large amounts of attention. That opinion comes though in lyrics like “here we are feeling alive” or “feeding on suspense”. People in the scene want to feel alive, young, the thrill of the chase. In fact, each time the chorus line “Why be alone with your secret” starts, if you listen carefully, behind it you can hear a little “call to arms” horn sound off. Anyway, the feel of the song is sinister and sexy so I hope people of all walks of sexual life enjoy listening to it!