SMALLER HEARTS – “BELTS AND BRACES”
NOYES RECORDS
Halifax duo Smaller Hearts began as a game. Kristina Parlee and Ron Bates tore up pieces of paper, and on each they wrote a word that could describe a song: slow, fast, quiet, loud, odd time signature, with or without certain instruments, et cetera. Through three albums, these “instructions” distilled into a catchy synth-pop laced with just enough experimentation and discord to keep things interesting.
“Belts and Braces” is about coming to the realization that too much careful planning can actually be counterproductive. There’s an intentional urgency in the bass line; the keyboard part sounds like an alarm, to mirror the anxiety of overthinking. Then, the song comes to a decisive and confident conclusion.
This is the second single in advance of their fourth LP, Rock and Roll Was Here To Stay, which will be released on April 21 via Noyes Records. Embracing nostalgia even as it refutes it, the harmonies soar while synthesizers collide with guitar feedback. Smaller Hearts continue to evolve with a set of songs that are better than ever.
ARTIST QUOTE
Talking to a friend one day, she described an action someone took as “both belts and braces.”
I’d never heard the expression before, but her explanation was relatable: the act of taking extra—probably unnecessary—steps to make sure something goes as planned or to prevent a problem.
This inspired my bandmate, Ron Bates, and I to write the song you’re listening to today.
The lyrics are personal—staring at the alarm clock before it goes off, being hyper alert to potential problems, repeatedly rereading little notes to myself to try to find reassurance that things will go as planned—are all things that I have done.
There’s an intentional urgency in the bass line. The keyboard part that comes in halfway sounds like a bit of an alarm–mirroring the anxiety of thinking and thinking and thinking through the same thing.
But then the song turns that on its head by coming to a short quick conclusion, intentionally kicking that endlessly anxious churning with a decisive and confident ending. ~Kristina Parlee of Smaller Hearts
Smaller Hearts
[Single]
(Noyes Records)
Release Date: March 10, 2023
Artist Links
SPILL NEW MUSIC: SLEEPKIT – “CAMP EMOTION”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: BETH BAINES – “NEPETA”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: TOM HANLEY – “OVERNIGHT”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: WAASH – “IT GOES ON”
