Bloomington, Indiana-bred (and now Nashville based) trio Harpooner is making a name for themselves in the music industry with the lead up singles to their debut LP Rose Park. Max Mullen, Josh Morrow, and Scott Schmadeke are having a ball performing up and down the east coast at present, promoting that debut LP. Having already released the song “Carolines,” their debut was announced on KCRW last month. Now they’re back with their follow-up track, “Hush Up”, which is premiering exclusively on IMPOSE.
“‘Hush Up’ is an amalgamation of the whole album,” says frontman Scott Schmadeke. “There are two crucial elements to this song: denial and error. The former is due to the latter. I wanted to tell my love I had been with another, but never did. I swept it under the carpet in order to keep things high and tight, a craven move. I took to pain meds to cope.” This melancholic aspect of the song can be identified almost immediately, with the slow rhythm and vintage-sounding guitar notes. Schmadeke’s moody vocals bring the emotion behind the song to life.
It doesn’t stop there. Not only are the lyrics heart breaking, but so is Schmadeke’s crooning over a psychedelic-pop sound. After all, they are a self-proclaimed “1970’s pop” band. Five minutes and twenty-six seconds of musical bliss, with a drop off at 3:40 to bring you back to the reality that this is a very layered track. The attention to detail is insane.
“Musically speaking, the ‘C’ section of the song is quite more aurally stimulating than the others,” notes Schmadeke. “A train blows by. You can even hear the tracks and the whistles made by a space echoed piano and church organ pipes. Even after listening to it a thousand times through the recording process, I still believe ‘Hush Up’ is my favorite cut on this album because of the array of production tricks and dynamic changes used to provoke my state of mind.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Upcoming Tour Dates
June 18: Vinyl Release Party @ Blockhouse – Bloomington, IN
June 23: Vinyl Release Party @ The Basement – Nashville, TN
June 25: King’s – Raleigh, NC
June 27: Petra’s – Charlotte, NC
June 28: Soul Bar – Augusta, GA
June 29: Palmetto Brewery – Charleston, SC
June 30: Jack of Cups – Folly Beach, SC
July 1: Flickr Theatre – Athens, GA
July 2: Marty’s PM – Birmingham, AL
July 23: BK @ Alphaville w/ Lord Youth, Horse Eyed Men and CVS at Night
July 24: NYC @ Bowery Electric w/ Girlyboi and Alice K
July 28: Philly @ Ortlieb’s w/ Pine Barons
