Witch Fever release their new single/video, ‘Dead To Me’, out now via Music For Nations / Sony.
Bridging the gap between their critically acclaimed 2022 debut album, Congregation, and their next chapter, ‘Dead To Me’ combines Witch Fever’s trademark raw, breakneck punk with a fuller, more experimental sound. The Manchester four-piece has already been playing the track live, harnessing its livid energy into a moment of collective catharsis from festival stages to sweaty venues. On record, that anger is whipped up into a full blown tempest.
Produced by Chris W Ryan (NewDad, Just Mustard, Enola Gay), ‘Dead To Me’ embraces heavier influences and darker atmospherics. Bassist Alex Thompson took the lead, beginning with a bassline and building out from there, with guitarist Alisha Yarwood playing with noise and texture over riffs, while drummer Annabelle Joyce incorporates double bass pedal and more dynamic patterns. Propelled by the thunderous instrumental, vocalist/lyricist Amy Walpole careens between screaming fits and soft, serpentine verses layered with dissonant harmonies.
“We really wanted to sound bigger,” says Alex. “We wanted to push our sound in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do if we were just playing in a room together.”
Thematically, Amy draws on her traumatic experiences growing up in the Charismatic Church, which informed much of Congregation’s lyrical content. Here, though, she speaks from a different emotional vantage point.
Reflecting from a place of clarity rather than confusion, the song unleashes the anger of growing up with the pressures of being all the things girls are expected to be – sweet, cute, and compliant – while also being let down by the institutions in her life that failed in their duty of care, despite the ongoing support of her parents. The lyrics are unforgiving and in your face, leaving little to read into. In Amy’s words: “I’m just saying that all the elders in the church that let me down are dead to me!”
At the same time, the track doubles as a “fuck you” to anyone who deserves it. “When I’m playing it live, there’s a bunch of other people I’m thinking about who are dead to me,” says Alex. “Anyone can listen to it and be like, ‘yeah, fuck this person’ – which is always a fun energy to play with. It’s like a form of release.”
