Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight - "Skeleton Closet"

Photo by Ted Petrosky, Epsilon Arts

Boston's Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight just released a huge, theatrical alt-rock single. I hesitate to call "Skeleton Closet" alt-rock because it's a little more metal than that, but I think it stops just barely shy of metal. It's a heavy rocker that focuses on Shae's vocals which are what is going to suck you in. Not to mention that guitar solo on the bridge, which is so metal adjacent that it might even have a pinky toe dipping in. I'm sure metal purists would disagree with me, but if you have a love of dark, huge, theatrical nearly metal alt-rock, "Skeleton Closet" is going to be right up your alley.

Gretchen Shae says of her band's new single:

“‘Skeleton Closet’ is about the duality of social media: the public persona vs. the private. We don’t want people to know we are unhappy, to see the unpleasantries, so we post a photo of some lavish object we bought, or of ourselves smiling with, perhaps, people we loathe. The idea of social media as a means to connect and share all emotions has really backfired, hasn’t it? Instead, we bury our secrets. We put filters on not just our faces; we put them on our lives. And we all do it, to some extent.”

You can listen to "Skeleton Closet" below. The song is currently available for download via Bandcamp. For more on Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight, check out the band's Facebook and Instagram.