Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios 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.
Twee and twang have taken hold of modern indie rock for all the right reasons. Today’s example: the oscillating sounds of a sharp rhythm section with deep guitars and a dreamy pedal steel that make Fellow Kinsman’s new track “Love Came Through” shine.
The new single off their soon-to-come record Break Room (out this October) is a distinctly personal track that shifts the Americana trope of yearning about love toward a self-imposed target. The band fronted by Nate Kinsman is full of Milwaukee stalwarts — Will Hansen (pedal steel/guitar), Erin Bagatta (vocals/keys), Cleo Jackowick (bass) and Duwayne Davis (drums) — whose soirees into the Milwaukee music scene make them sound tight without cutting corners.
Today’s premiere is further proof of how on point they are, with the song focusing on self-love that permeates without self-pity. It’s about trying to be vulnerable in the face of emotional stagnation. As Kinsman put it, “We all have baggage that makes it tough to open up and be vulnerable to others, but it starts with being vulnerable to ourselves.”
No wonder a song focused on self-growth was made with the tender love and care of the band's friends. Hansen and Kinsman produced the track themselves, with each band member providing nonnegotiable moments that add to the breath of the soundscape. It’s twang that comes from hearts that beat close to each other.
"It's been nothing short of exciting getting to be rats in the studio with your best friends,” Kinsman said, “ringing out our t-shirts to make silly sounds with our instruments, then passing it off to our homie Josh Evert at Silver City Studios to mix and master to really bring the sound home.”
The song follows the highs and lows between verse and chorus, representing the battle that is self-growth. But it’s layered with a clawing desperation that makes the listener feel the struggle of falling in and out of love with someone — especially if it’s themselves.
Growing tired of losing
At least you tried
The doubt, consuming
Cut through like a knife
It’s all inside your mind, you see
There’s another side
Holding onto reasons
That kept you from revealing
All you need is you
Framed by a bumpy bass groove, Kinsman bursts into the chorus with a seemingly newfound perspective on what love is.
Love is on the line
Is it for you
Never the wrong time, but misused
Love came through
Ultimate acceptance is something that maybe we’ll never understand when it’s the right time to love. Or maybe there's no such thing. What is known is that love is real for friends, partners and yourself — that even in the worst moments, love comes through for everyone.
You can listen to “Love Came Through” anytime using the player at the top of the page and catch it on 88Nine today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.). The single comes out this Saturday, Aug. 9, the same day you can catch Fellow Kinsman live at Cactus Club with Ladybird and Mol Sullivan, followed by an afterparty DJ set at Club Ritual.
