One Track Mind

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“Figure 8” has you at “hello.” The song kicks off with an attention-getting, percussive stomp from drummer Emily Kingan. Synth programmer Kerby Ferris adds a dark melody to Kingan’s tribal beats, setting the stage for Lovers’ founder and primary songwriter Carolyn Berk’s plaintive declaration: “They tried to shame us out of loving darlin’ / but they don’t pray as hard as I ache.” And that all takes place in the song’s first thirty seconds.

Lovers spend the rest of the track building up the song’s three main elements–voice, synths, and percussion–into a track that, despite its simple construction, is both catchy and substantial. Thanks to the duskiness of Berk’s voice, “Figure 8” has more heft than a typical pop song, yet it’s sing-a-long bridge is sure encourage plenty of fan participation when Lovers tour the U.S. this fall.

On October 12, 2010, the Portland, OR-based trio will release Dark Light on Badman Recording Company.