Premiere: The Sugar Hollow Stare Down The Barrel Of Their Faults In “Silver Bullet”
Change is just hard. Whether transitioning from a familiar environment to an unfamiliar one or striving to overcome entrenched vices, it’s just not easy to shake the status quo when it comes to your personal life and experience. Well, it actually is easy to do that. The mechanics of change are pretty straightforward–just turning left instead of right to enter that new place, or just simply refusing that extra round at the end of the night. But wanting to do them? Wanting to change? Yeah, that’s the struggle. Change isn’t hard in this sense. Our resistance to change is.
All of this becomes glaringly apparent during solitary moments. As you gaze into the mirror, you see countless areas for self-improvement staring back at you—-exercise routines to adhere to, moments of relaxation to prioritize. Similarly, in the quiet hours of the night, when sleep eludes you, each insecurity emerges with crystal clarity, infiltrating your thoughts in the absence of distraction. The actions we should take, or avoid, are so obvious in these moments, yet, more often than not, we hesitate or stumble in actually correcting them.
Such is the dilemma The Sugar Hollows confront head-on in their newest single, “Silver Bullet.” Over a soothing groove and fetching melody, the band grapples with the timeless struggle of battling actions and vices they know to be wrong, yet find themselves almost powerless to resist as time marches on. Serving as the third single from their upcoming album, “Radio Waves,” this track is delivered with pleasing frankness and emotional resonance that speaks to the band’s poignant melodic approach. Today, The Auricular is proud to premiere this track ahead of its release on Friday, May 17th with an exclusive stream below as well as some clarity behind the song’s effective parable.
“Staring thirty in the face\ Am I ever gonna change?“, asks vocalist and guitarist Michael Dunn in the chorus of “Silver Bullet,” echoing the common dread that accompanies another trip around the sun. Yet, the song’s compelling nature isn’t merely derived from posing such questions. Without veering into salacious or exploitative territory, the band candidly explores the inconvenient moments they find themselves waking up to—memories and inhibitions stolen by vices prevailing in the end. With each recurrence, it’s no wonder the song’s central inquiry feels both hopeless and disregarded.
Behind that lyrical candor, the straightforward guitar tone is also hard at work catalyzing introspection. Nimble yet deliberate, the electric six-string’s melody leaves an indelible mark with its sharp twang and playful jaunt—a quintessential representation of country-western charm. Though the subject matter may be weighty and urgent, the guitar grounds it in realism, eschewing existentialism or abstraction. Instead, it portrays the sincerity of the situation alongside the optimistic mindset required for change, exemplified in more detail by a slick solo later in the song.
Following this electric interlude, a tempered horn section joins the narrative, infusing the introspection with a touch of brass inspiration. Responding to the song’s repeated query with hopeful and affirming tones, it elevates the final chorus with a newfound sense of optimistic readiness. This subtle nuance underscores the inherent appeal of the song’s approach–laying bare life’s imperfections while offering a hopeful outlook for improvement. Just another musically articulate way for The Sugar Hollows to help ease the jagged edge of life.
“Silver Bullet” is the third and final single released from the band’s upcoming record, Radio Waves, after the fiery jangle of “Headin’ South” and the relaxing soul wash of “Slow Lane” released earlier in May. This all comes a little over a year since the band’s debut self-titled album, a piercing ode to the restless spirit inside all of us. With Radio Waves, it seems the band has moved past exploring that spirit and is now in the process of reconciling it with satisfying music and counseling words, fortifying it for the road ahead that The Sugar Hollows face with remarkable grit and keen passion.
“Silver Bullet” is set for release on Friday, May 17th, while Radio Waves will hit streaming platforms on Friday, May 31st. The following day, the band is celebrating their new record with a special release show at Get Tight Lounge alongside Virginia Man and Wim Tapley. For more information on that show, click here or look over the show flyer below. To keep up to date on future releases, shows, and announcements from The Sugar Hollows, make sure to bookmark their website and follow them on social media.
