Philadelphia’s Hop Along will be releasing their third studio album Bark Your Head Off, Dog on April 6. Having just announced a handful of shows at SXSW, Hop Along have also shared the brilliant next track from the album, ‘Not Abel’. Listen below!
‘Not Abel’ begins as a delicate waltz, violins and cellos make way for a series of explosive choruses before the song collapses into an exuberant guitar jam. The song again shows the extraordinary dynamic range of vocalist and songwriter Frances Quinlan as she wrangles with feelings of disappointment and resentment.
“Karl Ove Knausgaard wrote a great book called, “A Time for Everything.” I’d say it inspired a lot of little moments, in this song especially,” shares Quinlan. “At one point he writes about Cain and Abel, but approaches it with a far more intimate, even mundane lens, completely unlike the Bible, which is pretty bare of any personal description. As you spend a few days with them, Cain becomes increasingly sympathetic. It’s a funny thing trying to examine beliefs. Sympathy and understanding complicate everything too much I suppose.”
Bark Your Head Off, Dog will be Hop Along’s third studio album. Self-produced and recorded at The Headroom in Philadelphia by Reinhart and Kyle Pulley. This time around, they’ve added strings, more intricate rhythms, lush harmonies (featuring Thin Lips’ Chrissy Tashjian), along with a momentary visit with a vocoder. The album is available for pre-order on vinyl, CD and digitally here.
Stream / purchase ‘Not Abel’: https://hopalong.lnk.to/byhod
