London-based art rock six-piece Man/Woman/Chainsaw have unveiled their cinematic new single ‘Something Else to Give’, the final track on their upcoming debut album ‘Cannonball’, which is due for release on 7th August. The track is a stunning meditation on the desperate urge to completely give yourself over to another person, and it’s the perfect album closer, thanks to its epic, cathartic climax.
‘Something Else to Give’ starts deceptively simply: it opens with a steady drum beat and bassline, which are soon joined by Vera Leppänen’s delicate, precise, Lily Allen-esque vocals. It’s because the song’s opening is so reserved that its climax is so impactful. Man/Woman/Chainsaw exert a great amount of control over the song’s arrangement, gradually building it up by adding new instruments and textures.
Clio Harwood’s violin is a highlight throughout, guiding the rest of the band from section to section. After the first verse, the melody she plays is dark and jagged, but in the first chorus, it smoothes out, evoking the iconic violin melody from Phoebe Bridgers’s ‘Graceland Too’. And when Billy Ward’s vocals join Leppänen’s for the chorus, the song’s scope broadens, sounding more like a conversation between the narrator and her subject, rather than a monologue.
The track’s music and lyrics are perfectly matched, informing and enhancing one another. As the lyrics and vocal performances become more desperate and pleading, the music grows in complexity and intensity. “I’ll bend at every angle / Stand in every storm / Wade through every river / Wave from every shore,” Leppänen promises, which keyboard player Emmie-Mae Avery challenges in her own soft, haunting vocal melody. “You don’t want what you’re offering,” she counters, as if she is Leppänen’s conscience.
After the bridge, the band crack the song wide open, each of them playing their own distinct part that combines beautifully with the others to create a fantastic wall of sound effect. Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s art rock sound and their ambition and skill in creating a textured, fully formed musical landscape place them firmly in the lineage of fellow British bands Black Country, New Road, Black Midi, and My New Band Believe.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw are set to tour the UK and Ireland in September and October this year, followed by a few US dates in late October and early November.
Mia Tobin Power
Image: ‘Something Else to Give’ Official Single Cover