On Nov. 4, Nashville’s alt-rock, indie pop powerhouse The Thing With Feathers released their new single “These Drugs,” along with a music video that captures their energetic live performances.
The band consists of David Welcsh (vocals), Alex Hendricks (lead guitar) and Chris Roussell (drums). The video was directed by Hannah Hall, the same director behind their previous videos for “Lights Down Low” and “Sundays in the South”. It has a vintage feel, playing with color and visual effects. Both the video and their sound is reminiscent of bands like The 1975 and The Strokes. The boys are fun to watch as they rock out, while the video also adds some sensualism.
The track’s upbeat guitar and drums, as well as Welcsh’s shimmering vocals, make for a pleasant indie rock mix. The Thing With Feathers’s lyrics are angsty and unapologetic: “Sometimes I feel a little too emphatic / And when I don’t get what I want / I run to my bad habits” the song opens. “‘These Drugs’ is about the toxic,” Welcsh says. “It’s about being in the worst part of a bad relationship where it’s over but you keep hanging on for any tiny fracture of the high that was there in the beginning. It’s the brutal death of an optimist only living in glimpses of the past.” “You and me fighting on these drugs / You can’t help but feel it is not love / Say what you want then you take off / I can’t help but feel it is not love,” he sings in the chorus.
“These Drugs” came about unconventionally, with the guitar melody presenting itself first to the band. “Then one day I was having something of a ‘spiritual day’ with our friend and I was showing him some stuff we were working on and we listened to that idea,” Welsh continues. “Then out of nowhere I just started singing the chorus.” He wrote the lyrics in a van before wanting to throw the song in a set on tour that night. “It really is one of the best songs we’ve ever written,” he says.
Find this and more exciting new music on our Alchemical Multigenre Mixdown playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Emma Page, a recent Journalism graduate of The George Washington University, possesses a passion for music journalism and storytelling in all its forms. Originally from Baltimore, MD, when she is not writing, she can be found at a local concert or making music of her own.
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