Exclusive Track Premiere: ‘Stonecold,’ Machineheart
ABOVE: MACHINEHEART. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA MARIA LOPEZ.
L.A.-based alt-pop outfit machineheart first made waves in the blogosphere with Katy Perry covers. Now, on the heels of their 2015 debut In Your Dreams, they’re set to mark the pop world in their own right. They’re readying their sophomore EP (which is currently untitled and set to be released this fall) and below, we’re pleased to premiere its soulful and brooding first single: “Stonecold.” It’s a sobering meditation on the ruins of a relationship amidst a bass-heavy, downtempo backdrop.
“It was written during a moment of clarity, the kind when you are able to see life from a third-person view and see the situation for what it really is, rather than through your own rose colored eyes,” recounts lead singer Stevie Scott. “I’m a perennial optimist, so it really takes a lot to get me to that kind of place.”
With the lyrics and melody written and composed quickly and simultaneously, “Stonecold” plays as a raw moment of catharsis, an organic release of emotion firmly in-between lovesick weariness and wizened detachment (“Oh, you know you did me wrong / Oh, you turn me stonecold”). “I was playing piano and Carman [Kubanda] was on guitar and it kind of flowed out,” says Scott. “It’s always nice when you’re able to quickly and concisely say what you’re trying to say. … ‘Stonecold’ felt right from the get go.”
The single marks a definite departure from the bright, buoyant feel of machineheart’s previous releases (see “Circles” off of In Your Dreams), and thrusts the band into more introspective territory. Although Scott’s “perennial optimism” may not take center stage on this stripped-down track, her incisive lyricism and honest vocals certainly herald an artistic evolution for the band; one which they recognize within themselves. “We feel like we’re hitting a new stride. … It’s relieving to feel this kind of comfortability being in our own skin, as a proper band.
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