Omaha-based indie rocker outfit Bad Self Portraits has never been afraid to sit in the most uncomfortable parts of human life. On their new single, "I Think I'm Going to Hell," the group transforms those shadows into a kind of light, an unflinching meditation on childhood guilt, religious trauma, and the obsessive burden of memory.
The song, the title track of their upcoming album, lands like a quiet storm. Layering shoegaze textures over a raw, aching pulse of alternative rock, the song is both confessional and cinematic. The vocalist Ingrid Howell tells the tale with a performance that's equally tender and devastating, relating a memory so small it seems inconsequential but that has grown into a lifetime of guilt and fear over a stolen peanut. What emerges is a song about a single moment, yet one that reveals how those moments can sow anxieties that grow into entire selves.
Bad Self Portraits, founded in Omaha in 2017, has garnered a reputation for emotionally compelling songwriting and charismatic live shows. It's storytelling that can be brutally revealing, stripping away layers of compulsive introspection, spiritual struggle, and the fight to accept oneself. "I Think I'm Going to Hell" works because it's honest. The shoegaze-laced guitars wash over Howell's words like waves of memory, while the alternative rock spine provides the song its grit and urgency. There is catharsis here, an assertion of power in speaking to fears that you once had locked away in a childhood diary. It's human in a profound sense, and an anthem for anyone who has grappled with the invisible burden of faith and doubt.
The single serves as a precursor to the album's vinyl-first release on August 26th, which is part of the Buy Before You Stream initiative, and will also be available digitally on September 19th. To commemorate the release, the band will kick off a week-long tour, including gigs in Wichita, Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and culminating in their hometown of Omaha for the album release on September 20th. Bad Self Portraits give away a part of their soul with "I Think I'm Going to Hell." It's the type of song that sticks in your head, resonating long.
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