By Charlie Maybee
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Indie rock band, Scream Mountain, released their first single of 2022, “Runaways,” today, January 20. The single is the first of five singles to be released this year.
Equal parts dreamy and brooding, “Runaways” brings an atmospheric energy reminiscent of 80’s rock bands like The Cure that bring a poetic shoegaze mix of lyrics and guitar to the forefront. Lyrically, there’s an urge coming from the lead singer, Paul Scaramella, to come untethered, which becomes embodied by the character of an unnamed woman: “She said ‘baby, wont’ you run away with me’ / I know it won’t be easy / I said ‘hold on to that urgency.’” Despite the uncertainty, there’s a level restraint in the vocals that keeps the dreamy façade of reality together.
The band continues diving into uncanny dreamscapes, while adding some off-kilter humor in a brand-new music video to accompany this new release. It primarily features guitarist Jordan Pawlick following Scaramella into a variety of strange places like the bathroom or convenience stores, playing his guitar with a flawless deadpan expression.
Often, Pawlick will also add a layer of melancholy silliness with shots of him controlling Scaramella with puppet strings or pouring water on him out of a watering pale to simulate rainfall.
Beneath the humor, the somber ambience remains, but it adds a nice dimension to the overall feel of the song that reflects the kind of superficial autopilot we all put on sometimes in order to avoid a problem.
“Runaways” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The accompanying music video is also available on YouTube. Follow our Alchemical Weekly YouTube Playlist for more great music featured on the site.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
