Es - "Hidden Track"

Photo by Max Warren

London synth-punk quartet Es are back with a new song of their upcoming debut album. "Hidden Track" is less obviously intense than the previous single, "Chemical," but this one still has a lot of bite. The synth line in this song is quite hypnotic in the way that it seems to swirl around vocalist Maria Cecilia Tedemalm's voice during the verses. The chorus has a chant along quality despite not being a gang vocal, which somehow adds to the intensity of the song by playing with punk norms. 

Maria Cecilia Tedemalm explains the song: "'Hidden Track' is a song that took a long time to complete. The music was entirely realised at least a year before the lyrics were written. Lyrically the chorus is a direct nod to the classic Germs song "What We Do Is Secret"; however thematically 'Hidden Track' explores the inner workings of relational drama. A constant push pull to fully understand and learn about the other person without surrendering yourself in the process.

"The themes in this track propel the emotional life of the album as a whole, which explores the desire and impossibility to know or be known by others and that at times we are even strangers to ourselves. As a band, we’ve always been influenced by psychoanalytic literature, including our name, Es, which is a Freudian term for the most buried and untethered parts of one’s psyche. With several tracks on the album, including Hidden Track, through both the lyrics as well as the musical dynamics we try to bring a sense of this uncanny to the fore."

You can listen to "Hidden Track" below. Less of Everything, the debut album from Es, will be out April 3 via Upset the Rhythm. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Es, check them out on Facebook.