A quick Google search of new dream pop group Doll Food will turn up few results other than a Soundcloud stream of their new song “Speed Freaks in Love” and an empty Bandcamp page, which is appropriate, given how mysterious and down-right ghastly they sound. “Speed Freaks in Love”—the first single off their upcoming debut, Marrow Deep—is little more than a beat and a repetitive melody. The song is eerie, uncomfortably sedate, and while listening to it, it’s hard not to feel like something bad is going to happen at any minute, which is a feeling that persists long after the track ends without incident.
“Speed Freaks in Love” starts with what sounds like a sample of a Spanish-language television program over a calliope melody before settling into a spacey loop over a fuzzy hip-hop beat. Behind the incessant drone of the piano and guitar, you can barely make out a woman’s heavily-distorted and low-pitch voice singing in the background, creating a distant and atmospheric effect. Because of the repetitive nature of the song, small variations like this and others—the slight hiccups in the recording, changes in the beat—comes across as meaningful and intentional. The end result of all these understated elements is a track that draws you in and forces you to listen as closely as you can.
Marrow Deep comes out June 17 on Not Not Fun Records. Stream “Speed Freaks in Love” below:
