“Every time a pop star is born, a distant planet dies/Science finally points to God, and He rolls His eyes,” posits Nashville’s Bryan Simpson, who makes music under the moniker The Whistles & The Bells, in the first words of his new single “Zombie Heartz.” The track is featured on his sophomore effort, Modern Plagues, set for release on April 28th via New West Records. Simpson, who co-wrote “Zombie Heartz” with The Raconteurs’ Brendan Benson, is never one to shy away from difficult subjects in his music as he makes searing observations on the status quo.
After an ominously brassy introduction, Simpson wastes no time calling out hypocrisy and conveying his bewilderment at our society’s self-inflicted contradictions. He opines that our brains are losing their shapes as we sit in our cubicles and stare at electrified rectangles, that we cannibalize our leaders, and laments that truth will never be a trend. Can I get an amen?
“Seemed to me such strange and sensitive times were begging for a strange and insensitive song,” Simpson says of the bold and buzzy track, with its intensely driving electro-pulse that simmers and churns just beneath the vocals. It has been said that the first step in solving a problem is admitting there is one in need of solving; brutally honest but never preachy, Simpson uses his signature whip-smart lyrical style to startle us, because once we are aware, we can get to work.
Without further ado, East of 8th proudly presents “Zombie Heartz” by The Whistles & The Bells:
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