The Eric Bachmann vehicle returns with new single off first album in 15 years
After nearly 15 years of quiet, Crooked Fingers are finally back. Swet Deth, the first full-length album from Eric Bachmann’s long-running project since 2011’s Breaks In the Armor, arrives February 27, 2026 — and the newly released single “Insomnia” makes it clear this return was worth the wait.
“Insomnia” is classic Crooked Fingers in spirit but expanded in scope. Built around Bachmann’s emotive, weathered vocals and acoustic guitar, the song slowly unfurls into a dusky Americana slow-burn, animated by the subtle brilliance of longtime collaborators Jeremy Wheatley and Jon Rauhouse. Fingerpicked lines and mournful slide guitar weave together in patient conversation, giving the track a haunted, nocturnal glow. It’s twangy, rhythmic, and devastating in its economy — vivid storytelling delivered with the confidence of an artist who knows exactly when to let silence speak.
Lyrically and thematically, “Insomnia” opens the door to Swet Deth’s preoccupation with mortality, but it does so with wry grace rather than despair. Bachmann has always been one of indie rock’s great songwriters, and here he sounds fully at ease “grooving past the graveyard,” finding beauty in unease and calm in confrontation.
On the track, Bachmann shared:
“I had a heart attack back in October. Doctor says it partly happened because I didn’t get enough sleep over the years. Insomnia is something I’ve dealt with for as long as I can remember. Feels like if I fall asleep I might miss something. I wrote this song about it. The plucky, winding guitar part that enters after the first verse represents a little venomous snake, dancing in slithers through a pile of unknowing victims slumbering on the beach in the tropical moonlight. I’m in love with the shimmering line of light the moon makes against the ocean when you’re on the beach late at night.”
Give “Insomnia” a spin below:
