Texas-based folk duo Hovvdy released the enveloping True Love last year on the first day of fall. Now it’s spring and they’ve unveiled a rich, jangly ballad called “Town.” Though Charlie Martin and Will Taylor are most known for their storytelling lyrics, the layered, coruscating instrumentals make the song some of their best material yet.
“Writing and recording ‘Town’ helped me break out of a relatively dark place,” Martin said about the song. “There was catharsis in almost every layer — I remember crying recording the mellotron flutes. I’m not sure why, but with ‘Town’ I wanted the instrumental to do the heavy lifting, leaning less on storytelling. In that way, the song’s meaning isn’t terribly specific, but for me it’s about missing your friends and hoping they miss you.”
The emotional intensity is embedded into the soaring guitars and the dynamic harmonies.
In our interview with the band in October, we asked them if they had any moments as a music fan when they were listening to a song and thought, “Oh, I can do this too.” Martin said, “Just realizing that, as long as you’re kind of decent or can fumble yourself through some stuff on guitar and keyboard and drums, and realizing that it’s about the layering and the chemistry of a recording. That was, I think, something we both discovered in that early bedroom pop phase.”
If one word could sum up the charm of Hovvdy, it’s “chemistry.”
Listen to “Town” above.
