Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell Jr., host of the Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "Fear" by Chastity Belt, a 2021 self-released single.
Local faves Chastity Belt recently returned with the limited 7” ‘Fake/Fear,’ the quartet’s first release since 2020’s “The Process,” a digital split release with Melbourne trio Loose Tooth. “Fear” was the first of the two to be shared and is an anxiously dreamy slow-burner about going through life with uneasy trepidation. Lead guitarist Lydia Lund penned this one and had this to say about the song:
“I wrote the song a few summers ago based around a dream I had. At one point in the dream, I was opening door after door, noticing the fear build, then dissipate upon opening, then build again when I realized there was yet another door. It felt like my dream was giving me practice in noticing my fear as something separate from the thing causing the fear, as something potentially more harmful and unbearable.
About a year later I was recording vocals out at my parents’ place. My mom knocked on the door – ‘is there anything you want to talk to me about? Is there something you’re afraid of?’ At that point I’d become so detached from the lyrics of the song it took me a minute to realize she thought I was doing some kind of primal scream therapy. And I guess in a way I am.”
The song came with a medieval-themed video directed by Eleanor Petry, who chatted with KEXP about her relationship with Chastity Belt and the making of the videos for both “Fear” and “Fake” back in December. Watch the video below.
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