Frontman Harry Kagan of rock outfit Music Band believes in the power of a “good kind of anxiety” and used that feeling as a tool to carve out his latest single. Additionally, Kagan explores how anxiety as well as other driving emotions have shaped his songwriting over the years.
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“’Heat’ is about a good kind of anxiety. The heat comes from that volatile kind of potential energy you feel when something is just beginning to reveal itself to you,” Kagan told American Songwriter. “It’s exciting, but that initial spark can have devastating consequences if you lean in too far too soon. For me this kind of anxiety always exists in a delicate tightrope routine. That’s why the chorus is saying ‘I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to think about it’. I think it’s important to check yourself when you’re feeling optimistic about something, not because I’m cynical, but rather because I prefer to be surprised. Overall, I wanted this to be a lighter, more straightforward song and I’d been listening to ‘Hollywood Nights’ a lot.”
“Heat” is a lively and bouncy rock tune with a raw and no-nonsense vibe. The three members are the quintessential power trio. The single off upcoming release Celebration, gains from simplistic yet working, power-chord driven guitar riffs with a sound comparable to The Strokes and The Black Keys. The effect of loosened snare heads and Kagan’s raspy vocals complete the song adhering to its consistent crude vibe, packaging it into the perfect modern garage party rock song for today.
“A lot of the things I write are direct responses to things that happen to me,” said Kagan of his songwriting. “I’ve never been the kind of person who can say, ‘I’m going to write a song about eating bread’ and then sit down and do that, though I wish I was better at that. One way I think and hope I’ve grown as a songwriter since the last album is that I no longer feel tempted to pander or incorporate trends or write about things I think I should write about. I’m not sure if that’s specifically evident on this album, but when I think about the records side by side, I do see this new one as a sort of logical step forward. The songs on Celebration sound to me as though they came from three blokes who’ve fully moved on from the previous album.”
