Self Defense Family have returned with their first new music in six years, and Patrick Kindlon has a lot to get off of his chest.
The track is titled ‘Reclusion’ and serves as the band’s first release since a string of singles back in 2020.
And in picking up where they left off, the band are dealing out tension and tenacity in abundance. Like a rubber band stretched to its absolute limit but that refuses to snap, it is a knife-edge of a listen. A gruelling, churning, fantastically discomforting piece of relentless emotional release.
Dishing out gorgeously brash poetry by the bucketload, vocalist Patrick Kindlon has seemingly turned his attention to the things that are good in his life. But clearly, he cannot shift the feeling that something bad is just around the corner. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition, that makes for an even more compelling and cathartic experience.
This is what he had to say about what the track represents and where it fits in future plans:
“I’ve been trying to write lyrics about family and animals instead of songs about being atomized and thinking everyone is crazy. But it turns out even my love songs are about being atomized and thinking everyone is crazy. Call it a creative through line, I guess.
We’ve been playing together forever, so meeting up to write and record some songs is just a natural thing that happens. We recorded last year, but I’ve been holding up the process. Typically I go into the studio and write while I record, and it’s only ever about conveying a moment. But this time I’m struggling with the idea of getting things ‘perfect.’ A silly idea. But some of these songs are about things I want to get right the first time. I’ve got a family I love but everyone is dying on me. I’d like to have lyrics that do it all justice.”
