The High Strung announce their double-single release, “Different Animal” (A-side) and “Telescope” (B-side), out March 30. Songwriting duo Josh Malerman (New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box) and Mark Owen compose a lively and contemplative banter, passing the baton to one another as each track delves into complete storytelling. Produced by Jason Berkowitz and Zach Shipps (Electric Six), the singles are off the band’s newest studio album, set to release May 5 on Paper Thin Records.
While the singles are akin in lineage and put forth honest, revealing views of the uncertainties of life, they do so from different storytelling approaches. The upbeat “Different Animal” features Owen on lead vocals with harmonies by Allison Laakko. The song captures the catharsis of getting over a bad and necessary breakup. The sing-a-long melody moves between modern-day references and Nero’s fire, culminating in a wild piano outro that becomes “Telescope.”
Here, engulfed in piano and strings, the narrator of “Telescope” feels alone on earth with his optimism but discovers like-minded beings in the sky through his ocular aperture. Malerman explains, “I imagined it leading off a science-fiction concept album. A Texas bar, the door bangs open, an astronaut covered in dust enters. He’s been through something. And he says: we are not alone.” The song also plays into his book, Ghoul n The Cape, bringing the mediums together.
Address Unknown moves through a genre-bowing gala of musicality that often gives the impression of songwriter friends dueling in a living room deep into the night, each song a pocket-declaration of joie de vivre. From the diverse instrumentation to the blazing choruses, the album captures the essence of best friends as bandmates. Sometimes showy, never pompous, just like their previous hit song, “The Luck You Got” (the theme song to the Showtime hit show “Shameless”). The High Strung have fun meaning what they do.
Address Unknown Track Listing
- Address Unknown
- Overcoat and Skis
- In The Lines
- Different Animal
- Telescope
- Northern Pygmy Owl
- So Lonely
- Yr Brother
- Lazy Days
- Basement Lear
- Run It Back
- The Bomb
About The High Strung:
The High Strung formed nearly 20 years ago, but the friendship of four core members started in fifth grade. Metro Detroit natives Derek Berk, Josh Malerman, Mark Owen, and Chad Stocker formed in 2000, along with Jason Berkowitz of Cleveland. After settling back in the Motor City, Stephen Palmer joined the group, adding much flair to the catalog. While audiences will recognize their song “The Luck You Got” from the opening credits of Showtime’s “Shameless,” the group has also received accolades from Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork. They have also been reviewed on Fresh Air twice and featured on This American Life. Singer and guitarist Malerman is also the author of the New York Times best-selling novel turned Netflix film Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock.
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