If It's Too Loud...

There's nothing quite like a good murder ballad, and no one is going to do one quite like Marissa Nadler. Her latest single, "Couldn't Have Done the Killing," surpasses what we would normally describe as haunting. It's a completely modern take on the murder ballad, with Nadler's vocals sounding more hypnotic than they ever have. It's filled with distorted twanging guitars and a lush wall of sound that completely encompasses the listener. It's a gloriously beautiful song even as it tries to push you away at times. It all ends with a wonderfully discordant indie rock guitar solo. If you aren't fully on board with being a Marissa Nadler stan (the kids still say stan, right?) by the end of this one, you have no soul. You can watch the Unsolved Mysteries  and In Search of... inspired video for "Couldn't Have Done the Killing" below. The Path of the Clouds  is due out October 29 on Sacred Bones and Bella Union. You can pre-order/pre-save th...

Photo by Nick Fancher We're obviously huge Marissa Nadler fans here at If It's Too Loud..., and her latest single is making us even more rabid. "If I Could Breathe Underwater" is this brilliantly lush and cinematic song. It's an unbelievably gorgeous song that feels like floating. It's spacey and ethereal, with the music perfectly fitting Nadler's dreamy vocals. Plus, there is this odd, disjointed almost surf like guitar helping to tie the whole thing together with harp. Nadler's music has always been painfully beautiful, but "If I Could Breathe Underwater" is a whole new level. Marissa Nadler says of the new song: “ When I wrote ‘If I Could Breathe Underwater,’ I was contemplating the possibilities of possessing various superhuman powers: teleportation, shapeshifting, energy projection, aquatic breathing, extrasensory perception, and time travel to name a few.  As a lyrical device, I married those powers with events in my life, wondering if ...

Photo by Nick Fancher Marissa Nadler has kept herself busy during the pandemic. Suddenly experiencing wanderlust while being stuck at home. She learned to play the piano, and wrote many of the songs on her upcoming album on piano instead of her usual guitar. She also binged a lot of reruns of Unsolved Mysteries , which helped inspire the first single from the album. "Bessie, Did You Make It?" takes the standard murder ballad and makes it about female empowerment and survival. "Bessie, Did You Make It?" is haunting (This is a murder ballad by Marissa Nadler, after all), but it's also strangely warm. If you can imagine that instead of a cold spot, ghosts created an ideally warm, comfy hug, you can imagine the texture of this song. You can watch the video for "Bessie, Did You Make It?" below. The Path of the Clouds is due out October 29 on Sacred Bones and Bella Union. You can pre-order your copy here . For more on Marissa Nadler, check out the artist...