Posted: by The Editor
Alex Kessler, who performs as Arise, Sir!, has been pumping out hooks-forward pop-punk for years now. Most of his recent work has been mixed and mastered by The Wonder Years’ Casey Cavaliere, which gives an idea of where his sound falls, and Kicksie is a frequent collaborator of his. He’s been studying at Berklee College of Music to hone his craft–and that’s where he met Joseph Naszady. Arise, Sir! and Nasz began to work on tracks together, and their upcoming Bleedthru EP is the result.
Where previous Arise, Sir! releases were Drive-Thru Records throwbacks, Nasz’s influence on Bleedthru helped pull the songs into a more hyperpop-inspired direction. We’re excited to premiere the lead single, opener “Bleedthru,” the song that started it all. It’s a great example of what to expect from the duo, landing somewhere between 100 gecs, Cheem, and Sleigh Bells.
Kessler shares that
The song came together pretty much from the moment we sat down in an eight hour stream of consciousness. Joseph hardly stopped working on the production side of things and I wrote the hook and my verse while he was working. His verse was heavily inspired by the movie Hellraiser which we had seen just a few days before. Once the eight hour session was done we never touched the song again. It’s very rare for a song to just be considered done after one session, but it was honestly such a unique session we felt it was complete. As for the song itself, it’s about the type of relationship where one person might feel as though they don’t deserve a level of compassion or love from someone they care about and the anxiety that can stem from it.
The song rules, man. Give it a listen below.
Bleedthru is out October 14 on Lonely Ghost Records.
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Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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