Premiere: Hotspit Explore Lingering Doubt On “Melting Point”
Relationships are fragile entities. All it takes is one misspoken sentence or an ill-advised decision and it can all come crashing down, making you wonder if it was all worth it in the first place. On “Melting Point,” the latest single from Hotspit, this fallout is examined with a pensive musical touch, leading to a stinging realization. Ahead of its official release this Thursday, October 27th, The Auricular is proud to premiere the stirring track a day early with an exclusive stream below.
Opening with yearning guitar chords, the song establishes its ruminating sound before the first words are heard. Memories of deflecting interactions and pointless distractions follow in a tempered verse that leads to an impassioned musical breakdown, which serves as the song’s voiceless chorus. Like a bird circles its prey before swooping down, the structure here seems to offer up a faint vocal reflection that orbits a brutal realization before the music hones in on its core foible. In this way, the song plays out like a clever inversion of the classic quiet-loud alt-rock dynamic first innovated by the Pixies. Reticent observations lead to hastened musical moments, where a pick hits the guitar strings at just the right angle to let out all the visceral frustration words could never capture.
Playing with that dynamic isn’t the only subversion Hotspit plays with in regard to the alt-rock canon. Almost 30 years ago, The Cranberries famously wondered “Why’d you have to let it linger?,” a lyric that would inspire hopeful romance for a generation. On “Melting Point,” Avery Fogarty offers up another defining lyrical moment based around unresolved emotions, one better suited to embodying the pragmatic manner in which people approach love and relationships today. “Something lingering is better than nothing at all,” they muse after a particularly affecting verse before the music comes crashing down. Delivered with sweet conviction, it gives life to a sentiment all too familiar to those wondering if anything truly lasts in this world.
Outside of navigating the tricky aspects of intimacy, the lyrics present an honest look at that nagging argument present in our minds as we grow older: who we used to be versus who we are now. Sometimes, it can devolve into superficial observations (“If I was prettier then then I’m ugly now”), but at its core, it often informs the hesitancy and dread we encounter while navigating life. Fogarty laments, “I wish I knew you then” in the closing moments of the song, wondering if the relationship could work in another life or if its lingering joy was all it could ever aspire to be. Summed up in a compact and affecting line, it reveals the aching way we look back on life, wondering not just how things could be different, but how we could be different too… and what life might hold for us in that scenario.
Emotional retrospection is a common theme in Hotspit’s music, and “Melting Point” is a clear example of how skilled the band is at navigating that tricky minefield. There are terse and effective lyrical moments that paint the scene, but also resonant instruments that deliver clarity and conviction in a way affecting vocals never could. “Melting Point” offers all of this and more, pointing to the passionate guidance that Hotspit provides in their music, which we can’t help but crave more of in the near future.
“Melting Point” will be available on all streaming platforms this Thursday, October 27th. (Click here to pre-order and pre-save it.) Listen to the stirring track above and follow Hotspit on Instagram (link) and Facebook (link) so you can find out when they announce their next concert or release.
