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New year, new single, new direction for Motel Breakfast

Five men in casual clothing sit on furniture in a wood-paneled room with a large Lowenbrau clock on the wall behind them.
Motel Breakfast

Every week, Milwaukee Music Premiere connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.

When the calendar turns over, people see it as a chance to break from old patterns. It seems bands do, too — at least based on this Milwaukee Music Premiere from Motel Breakfast.

On new single “So Long,” lead vocalist Jimmy Drenovsky steps aside so bassist Drue deVente can lend his lower register to a song that seems to call for just such an approach. There’s an unhurriedness to the track, both musically and lyrically, and deVente’s voice only reinforces the feeling.

It’s a notable contrast from the band’s previous single, “MB (as in Modern Baseball),” which had a sharper edge and more energetic feel. “So Long” is a softer touch. As the band put it in their notes about the song, “the music washes over the listener with subtle drifts and changes each step of the way.”

A different approach might’ve induced anxiety in the listener, given the lyrical content — sleepless nights, long drives, absent loves. Instead, there’s an air of laid-back inevitability:

Leaves are on the trees and falling
My car winding through the green
I’ve been driving so long
So long, so so long oh no
So long, so so long
I’ll sit right here, you’ll be there for now
We’ll come around

You can listen to “So Long” right here and on the 88Nine airwaves. If you dig it, give the group some love over on their Bandcamp page.