The Melancholy Kings have released “New Girl,” the fourth single from their album ‘Her Favorite Disguise’, and it’s the kind of track that rewards close listening. Built around Mike Potenza’s hushed vocals and delicate acoustic foundations, the song is an ode to a film noir ingenue frozen in celluloid, with sparse drums from Paul Andrew, atmospheric electric guitar from Peter Horvath, and Scott Selig bowing harmonics on upright bass creating a slow-burn cinematic soundscape that cellist Carolyn Jeselsohn deepens considerably with elegant, timeless lines running through the mix.
The accompanying video, also created by Selig, manipulates footage into a shape-shifting abstraction of film noir ambiance that reinforces what the lyrics are already doing: deconstructing the boundary between what’s real and what’s reel. It’s a bittersweet, hypnotic tribute to the strange intimacy of loving someone who exists only in black-and-white frames, and the whole thing lands with the atmospheric depth the subject demands.
‘Her Favorite Disguise’ was produced and recorded by Ray Ketchem at Magic Door Recording in Montclair, NJ, and draws an unapologetic line back to the rough-hewn alt-rock of the pre-grunge ’80s. The New Jersey indie rockers have already released “Bitcoin Elegy,” “Victoria,” and the quasi-psychedelic “UV,” the latter featuring trumpeter Mac Gollehon, whose credits include David Bowie, Duran Duran, and Mick Jagger. The full album is out now on limited edition 12″ vinyl and across all digital platforms.