Jazzcat is back with a dark new single that is far from background music. Named "Concave," this latest offering is an emotionally unfiltered ascent through the band's more primal impulses, a shift for a band wholly unafraid to push the genre envelope.
The frontman, Jaimie Jagger, doesn't sing so much as he strains his vocals, tearing through the mix like a lifeline, soaked in emotion and blanketed in static. There is no polish here, and that's the whole point. Every word sounds urgent as needed before the moment slips away. It's on the move, pushing against the walls that have formed around it.
Underneath, the rhythm section sticks its foot in with purpose, counting time like it's pulling its weight up a hill. The math rock DNA is evident in the forced timing and slithering guitar patterns, moving in and out like a nervous system. It's an ironic instrumental reflection of the song's themes of anxiety and the moving back and forth of unaddressed questions.
"Concave" is not here to comfort you. It is here to challenge you. It's confrontational, and it's one hell of a piece of theater. Jazzcat isn't simply dipping a toe into heavier waters. "Concave" makes the case that if this fearless band has anywhere to go next, it's down.
It's the kind of song that remains long after the distortion has left the room, buzzing in your chest like a question you're not quite ready to answer.