Terror Pigeon! – “OtherSong” (audio) (premiere)

Terror Pigeon! (formerly The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!) is Nashvillian Neil Fridd’s vehicle for spilling his heart all over the place, in the style of “funcore” or “affirmationcore”.

Funcore is defined by dense and danceable synth music that underpins mantras of undying positivity, often echoed by the audience during performances. These dynamic live shows heavily involve fans in the form of games and props — designed to foster an inclusive and, well, fun environment. (Dan Deacon is a good reference point.)

Here, we premiere “OtherSong” (with Christine Peirce of Rareluth on backup vocals), the third single off Terror Pigeon!’s forthcoming record, We Will Never Run Out of Love — one of the year’s most infectious tunes.

Unlike so many other songs from Terror Pigeon!, “OtherSong” describes a love gone stale: “I have my made my mind all up / I am leaving you for the world / ‘Cuz you will never make me fully smile,” he sings. The song is deceptively complex — hook after hook unfolds as successive synth lines continue to enter the frame.

The delight of Terror Pigeon!’s lyrics is in their lack of varnish, of any poetic barrier between artist and listener. He writes with such youthful candor that it can be disarming. Even on one of his most sober tunes, Neil is such a homie that he still makes a point of acknowledging his lover’s feelings and the good times they shared:

“I’ll try to say it once / You’re wonderful for real / The nights we spent together were the thing I want to feel / And I know you’ll make somebody happy / who just wants to be happy / But that’s not me, no / I want everything.”

We Will Never Run Out of Love, with its wonderful, cut-and-paste, friend-collage cover art, comes out July 21.