FLOODHOUNDS CRASH INTO 2024 WITH LATEST SINGLE ‘NEAR LIFE EXPERIENCE’
SINGLE REVIEW | By Anne Kelly
Crashing in with their first new release of 2024, ‘Near Life Experience’ is the latest effort from South Yorkshire based thundering rock trio, Floodhounds. Having gained substantial momentum last year following their biggest track to date, ‘Psychosematics’, Floodhounds continue to deliver big and this latest single is no exception.
‘Near Life Experience’ is an instant ear worm. The sleazy catchy guitar driven hook in the opening far bars draws you in right away. Nostalgic of anthemic hard rock bands like Muse or Royal Blood, Floodhounds combine decades worth of influence into 3 energetic minutes whist keeping you on tenterhooks, wondering what twist the melody has next.
“The riff came first, and we knew straight away that it had some real punch behind it” – Jack (Floodhounds)
Undeniable punch, the best part of the track comes with the bridge/chorus breakdown. The discordant key change brings you right back in with a glorious hook laden chorus, shifting seamlessly back into that familiar opening riff.
Floodhounds drummer, Lauren Greaves says, We had so much fun working on the breakdown…we unleashed a half-time monster of a riff, with a swirling mess of feedback and chaos that makes it hit so hard.”
The track explores the notion of feeling detached from pleasure and the desperation to find anything that makes you feel alive; “Take a minute and drink it in, I need to know you’re receiving it”. The lyrics capture an internal battle of conflicting emotions with the key message of the track; “We’re all alive yet you feel so dead, so dead” is looped repeatedly as the track phases out. As Jack explains, “the song delves into the struggle of feeling numb and disillusioned but reminding you to break free of that apathy, seize the day and hold on to the moments that make you feel alive“. Once immersed in the discordant intensity of the music, the perturbing lyrics cultivate towards a chaotic yet passionate soundscape. The two elements complimenting each other hypnotically, encouraging that second (and third, and fourth…) listen.
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