Song Spotlight: "Gales of Worry" by String Machine

Sunny and energetic, the new single “Gales of Worry” by String Machine is an impressive return by the band who released their last album in 2019. “Gales of Worry” can best be described as heartfelt, in its performance and in its lyrics. The strings evoke a deep yearning, and accompanied by the swelling of the horns toward the end gives the whole track a grand feel that is easy to get enveloped in as a listener.

“The song was recorded/written in a very different way than the rest of the songs on the album," says String Machine member David Beck, who wrote the lyrics. "The chord progression became the consistent backbone of the song, which allowed the song to dynamically breathe in and breathe out. This approach also allowed each individual member to treat the song as a sonic collage. We all took our turns adding things & stripping things away until we had a piece of music that fluently expressed the themes of the song.”

While the melody of the song is more uptempo, the words tell a different story. Rich and emotional, the lyrics explore themes of getting older and learning about yourself as you encounter loss.

“Hands on the helm of aging,
I've had friends jump ship.
in the gale of worry,
oh, I feel so sick.

yeah, I take another one down,
I can't pick myself up now.
so I take another one down,
and I pour myself out.”

“Sometimes you get to a point with grief where you realize everyone is tired of hearing about it. That’s a really tough place to be in because the pain still persists and sometimes you bottle it up because you feel like a burden to people,” Beck says. “This manifests into bouts of anxiety. I really hit a low point and honestly, this song just came out of me. I felt abandoned with my heartbreak and I just felt really alone and guarded. This song is a snapshot of the feelings that crowded all of that."

“Gales of Worry” serves as an introduction to String Machine's upcoming new album Hallelujah Hell Yeah, which will be released in early 2022. For now, you can stream the new single or purchase it on Bandcamp.