Prayers – “Black Leather” (feat. Kat Von D) (Singles Going Steady)

Emmanuel Elone: “Black Leather” is a pretty good song. Kat Von D’s vocals are beautiful, and compliments the great rhythm flowing below her. Her singing feels even more powerful on the chorus, where her vocals are either stacked, or she has backup singers that improve Von D’s performance. Lyrically, “Black Leather” isn’t a slouch either, with lines that are simple, poetic, and put together well. “Black Leather” may not blow you away, but it is a good listen nonetheless. [6/10]

Chad Miller: I really hope lines like “Black leather possesses my soul” are supposed to be humorous. The somewhat juvenile vocal performance might be part of the potential humor too, especially when set against the dark lyrics. Anyways, I like how this track sounds. The music definitely isn’t as dark as the lyrics are, and the guitar usually puts out a really catchy melody. It might all sound a little derivative of things I’ve heard before, but it still sounds like a lot of fun. [7/10]

Chris Ingalls: The somewhat tuneless vocals recall classic indifferent synth-punk, but the music has a rather dinky, insubstantial texture to it that I can’t really get into. Not sure if this is supposed to be some sort of vanity project/tie-in for whatever Kat Von D is known for, and I’m not really sure if either party (Prayers or Kat) benefit from the pairing. This isn’t awful, but it’s pretty slight. [6/10]

Pryor Stroud: Dipped in throbbing black-electro bass and scratchy, post-punk guitar play, “Black Leather” is an enigmatic indie rock fever dream filled with elusive innuendos and pseudo-religious iconography. “Black leather possesses my soul”, the chorus repeats, conjuring up a scene of modern Dark Romanticism that could’ve been imagined by a latter day Hawthorne, a scene that, while only visible through a keyhole, depicts an exchange of daring sexuality in a place where noises of all kinds — sighs, moans, screams — can’t escape the walls that contain them. [6/10]

SCORE: 6.25