Indie linchpins, Portugal. The Man have returned with the new release, ‘Denali’.

The track comes not long after they dropped a surprise summer EP, ‘uLu Selects Vol #2’, and precedes their headline tour this autumn, which will see them hit major cities across the U.S. and Canada

The Grammy-winning, Alaskan-born (but Portland-made) band prove they have come a long way from their ‘Feel It Still’ days whilst still looking back fondly in this pulsating new single. This track is their grungiest and spunkiest yet, with speckles of Nirvana and Alice in Chains seeping through the pre-chorus and numerous instrumental breaks. 

Thick, distorted synths along with boldly explosive, yet heavily raw, guitar riffs sit firmly at the centre of the track and act as the driving force behind John Gourley’s silky, slick and energised lead vocal; allowing lyrics such as “I just wanna burn it down, be the snow into my cloud” and “Catch a snowflake on my tongue, can't tell what's real life or dreams” to land with their intended pathos—whilst also masterfully juxtaposing a scuzzy, Smashing Pumpkins-esque sound.

Clear comparisons can also be made between ‘Denali’ and David Bowie’s ’The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’. It manages to combine the raw, percussive synthetic sound of tracks like ‘Suffragette City’ with the refined, fuzzy tone of ‘Lady Stardust’ to assert its own aggressively glam-grunge sound—pretty impressive considering the single runs just over the four-minute mark.

Ultimately, the track is far from clean, but that’s part of its charm. The grunge influences are clear, and there are some other subtle musical influences that can be spotted throughout, too—like that of Bowie’s. The lyrics are raw, and the vocals are, as always, executed perfectly by Gourley.

‘Denali’ proves that Portugal. The Man are still very much mainstays of the alternative, indie-rock world. They are continuing to reach new heights, this time with a sprinkle of Ziggy Stardust.