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Warpaint “Champion”

A lot of Warpaint’s music sounds very much like the work of a band that do their best in a room together, songs that come across like music that was born in jams and refined through steady work. “Champion,” from the group’s new record largely made by remote through the pandemic, makes the most of their physical separation by moving towards an arrangement that suggests distance and isolation in its cold tones and wide open negative space. But as icy as the keyboard tones are and as clicky as the drumming gets, there’s some warmth radiating through this song. The guitar part sounds like it’s a thousand miles away from the drums but in a way that makes it feel like a far off beacon, and the vocals send a message of support and love from across the apparent chasm. The song doesn’t actually come across as especially sad or lonely, more just meditative, kind, and hopeful in its longing.

Buy it from Warpaint.