Baltimore-based project Lower Dens return this fall with the new album The Competition, a follow-up to 2015’s Escape from Evil. In regards to today's featured track, vocalist Jana Hunter shared the following:
Like a lot of queer and trans people, I've learned that real family is made, and it isn't necessarily blood. Even my blood relatives, we work for that familial connection and trust. This song is about leaving behind obligations to people who don't love or care about you, being with and about people who do. It's a feeling so strong it's driving me. That's the driving I'm doing.
In a previous press release, they elaborate on the new release:
The issues that have shaped my life, for better or for worse, have to do with coming from a family and a culture that totally bought into this competitive mindset. I was wild and in a lot of pain as a kid; home life was very bleak, and pop songs were a guaranteed escape to a mental space where beauty, wonder, and love were possible. I wanted to write songs that might have the potential to do that.
The Competition is out September 6th via Ribbon Music. Watch the video for the song below, directed by Jason Nocito, choreographed by Veleda Roehl, and featuring dancers Stephannie Henriquez and Steven Jeltsch.
