Norway’s much-loved Sløtface return with the anxious pop rush of “Nose”, a song that delivers melodic invention and the kind of personal, relatable lyrics that have been a welcome hallmark of the band’s sound up to now. The band have also confirmed a title and release date for their new EP “AWAKE / ASLEEP” of February 24th on Propeller Recordings.
Haley Shea had the following to say about the new single and February’s EP:
“‘Nose’ is what I would call a pretty general “Sløtface anxiety” song, a recurring theme I always come back to. Nose is a conversation between me and a loved one where I’m trying to use imagery to describe what anxiety feels like to someone who doesn’t experience it, how even the smallest things can trigger it and send me into a thought spiral that feels impossible to stop. The choruses are then the replies of someone I love reminding me to breathe, a tactic which usually helps me calm my thoughts, when done in the right way, by my partner, family and loved ones.
’Nose’ started when I visited Odd Martin at his studio in Bergen in March of 2022 to write some songs. It ended up being a super-productive couple of days where we wrote about 7 different demos on the first day alone, and then chose a couple to flesh out on the second day. “Nose” was the last song we tried out at the end of that second day.
The mix of the heavier, rhythmic, bass-focused verses and the big, layered, poppier choruses, all combined with saxophonist Aksel Rønning adding some extra spice, grit and depth to the whole track makes it one of our absolute favorites on the EP.”
Last summer the band returned with the news that the group’s figurehead Haley Shea would now be leading the band, with Lasse and Tor-Arne leaving to focus on new passions outside the group.
It was an amicable decision among friends as close as family and freed up Shea to push Sløtface into exciting new territories, with the band returning with a double A-side “Beta / Come Hell Or Whatever” that acted as a real statement of her intent. The smart pop-edge to “Beta” markedly different to the more band-orientated sound of “Come Hell Of Whatever”. Shea now describes Sløtface as a creative collective working with different musicians, songwriters and producers to explore what Sløtface can sound like. As that return showed us, Sløtface is whoever Sløtface wants and needs to be.
Influenced by 2020s indie icons such as Caroline Polachek and HAIM, the lead single “Beta” was co-written with songwriter and producer Mikhael Paskalev, and has their songwriting representing the next level for the band. These two singles, the winter follow-up “HAPPY” and today’s “Nose” all make the track listing of their new EP.
With the new line-up having now returned to the live stage and with further plans taking shape for 2023, you know these are songs meant to be sung back at them on the stage.
