SONG PREMIERE: Blonde Bones Grow with Shimmering Indie Rock Sound on “New Animals”

Photo credit: Erica Hart

Formed at the University of Tennessee while studying music and performing arts, Blonde Bones began as the indie rock project of Nashville natives Christian Barnett and Joe Reb. The schoolmates built a buzz on campus and around town for their quirky lyrics and memorable melodies before eventually adding Daniel Ryan and Jacob Carey to the lineup.

On their debut LP, Hiding Out, the quartet worked with producer Damon Moon (Curtis Harding, Dinner Time, Bathe Alone) at his Atlanta-based studio Standard Electric Recording Co. The result was a trippy homage to psychedelic pop highlighted by heart-wrenching loneliness and the occasional sideways glance towards good-hearted self-deprecation.

The album was released in February 2020 — and we all know what happened next. The pandemic provided ample free time and allowed the band to keep booking studio dates with Moon, which resulted in the upcoming Swimming Pool EP. Arriving later this summer, it’s their first release since signing with Midwest indie label The Record Machine.

Today Glide is excited to premiere the band’s standout track “New Animals.” Hitting right out of the gate with a snappy beat and bouncy acoustic guitar, the song balances a cool slacker rock vibe with sunny synth pop grooves and vocals. This is a song about love, and it is loaded with warming metaphors that weave and shimmer with the help of textured guitar, synth, and bass lines. All of this culminates with Christian Barnett laying down the chorus amidst a wash of gorgeous instrumentals.

Christian Barnett, frontman of Blonde Bones, describes the inspiration and process behind the song:

“Writing a new song usually requires many rounds of drafts and often weeks of editing before I feel like I have something close to a finished product. New Animals is one of those rare softballs that fell into place over a couple of hours one winter night in Chicago. Parts of this song I wrote for my wife — but other lyrics came out as a reminder to myself that although every season of life is different, there’s an underlying cycle of death and rebirth where we’re constantly presented with an opportunity to grow into someone new.”

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