"She picked up glass and closed blinds / She kissed your sour lips all the time / Her voice was tender, magnetic / She covered you from scorchers at five..."
The brutally honest "Chump", a glimpse of War Strings' upcoming third album "Of Aether" is a straight forward raw form of bloodletting full of dirty guitars and maybe dirty secrets as well. A hard look in a mirror, it is a love song about the kind of love that may or may not of ended in tragedy, done in my self-sabotage which is always on account of self loathing (isn't it). Hence, the title "Chump". In this sonic bloom of comeuppance, the sound scape here works from the stringy constant guitar, thumping bass and eruptions of noise, all offset by a forlorn, even poisonous vocal countenance. The sense is somber pop on high, grunge in the gutter.
War Strings aka singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Stogel wrote, recorded, produced "Of Aether" entirely by himself and of "Chump" he shares:
"I woke up dreaming of this idea, viewpoint. Revisited memories, took some liberties. Still kind of a love song."
Despite the raw, lo-fi aesthetic of "Chump" which Stogel mastered on previous works, the new album shifts to other places:
From press notes:
[Andrew Stogel's Of Aether feels like an exhale; the clouds clearing. In stark contrast to the gloom and brooding of his early 2023 album Prelude to Nothing under his songwriting moniker War Strings, Stogel has found himself in a brighter headspace, feeling joyous. Where his last endeavor was a lo-fi, dark, and brooding album, drawing inspiration from Duster and Sparklehorse, he soon after found himself working on something new, a record that is cleaner, clearer and more optimistic. On Of Aether, Stogel has parted with his mental fog and emerges, deliberate in the detail of his arrangements, songwriting and intention.]
I look forward to stepping into the new album when it drops. I say that a lot though and a hectic schedule and never ending barrage of new music makes it difficult to sit still. Maybe that is a problem I have to solve, though I have never been good at that... solving problems. While songs like "Chump" may feel somewhat violent in terms of beating oneself up I think revealing our weak even horrible selves is a way to heal and grow. As long as we let our bruises heal before the next beat up session.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5fcFa6j43h4bLXzhrXkSkK
https://www.instagram.com/warstrings/
Born in Missouri and raised in Los Angeles, Stogel has been developing his craft from a young age, fronting bands like indie-psych rock outfit Dreamer Dose and the shoegaze-tinged pop band LOVEYOU. War Strings is an evolution of those projects, but full of more life experience and a grittier sound.
War Strings, Andrew Stogel, post punk, indie rock, psychedelic, grunge, post hardcore, alt rock, new upcoming album "Of Aether", new single "Chump",
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