Origami Angel Surprise-Release Two EPs, Share Origins of New Song “JUDGE”: Exclusive
The post Origami Angel Surprise-Release Two EPs, Share Origins of New Song “JUDGE”: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.
Origins is our recurring feature series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, Origami Angel takes us through “JUDGE,” a track from their newest EP DEPART.
On Friday (September 30th), D.C. emo duo Origami Angel surprise-released re: turn, an acoustic, three-song EP that showcased the band at their most stripped-back. Today (October 3rd), they have unleashed another surprise, the hard-as-nails DEPART.
“The idea for DEPART actually grew from the re: turn EP,” vocalist and guitarist Ryland Heagy tells Consequence. “We knew we were going to try a few songs in a more stripped-back acoustic fashion, but also thought it would be fun to explore a much heavier side of this band.”
The fusing of these two sides of Origami Angel — their softer, more optimistic impulses and their metal-core, mosh-worthy desires — has always been the band’s secret sauce. Their 2019 debut Somewhere City (which we just named one of our Top 15 Emo Albums of the Last 15 Years) perfectly intertwined the two styles, and 2021’s Gami Gang saw the band simultaneously get softer and heavier.
With re: turn and DEPART, fans are treated to an interesting, split-brain approach. Separately, each serves as a concentrated sample of what Origami Angel has to offer. Together, the juxtaposition heightens each EP’s respective tone. The easy-on-the-ear quality of songs like “penn hall” makes the noisy breakdowns of tracks like “JUDGE” hit all that much harder, and “JUDGE” returns the favor by making the oasis of “penn hall” even sweeter.
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“The end result was a musically freeing experience that felt even fresher to us,” Heagy adds, “and we love the way they play off of each other dynamically.”
Check out Origami Angel’s DEPART below, followed by Ryland Heagy’s breakdown of the Origins of “JUDGE.”
re: turn:
The idea for DEPART actually grew from the re: turn EP. We knew we were going to try a few songs in a more stripped back acoustic fashion, but also thought it would be fun to explore a much heavier side of this band. “JUDGE” was the first song we wrote for DEPART, and kinda gave us an idea of where we wanted the rest of the EP to go. We knew we wanted to take a much more abrasive stance tonally, vocally and rhythmically, and tried to push the sound in a more extreme direction.
We knew that if we were going to go the route of having a softer EP recorded and released, that we also wanted free rein to explore the heavier elements that EP might miss out on. So instead of being reserved with those heavier elements, we tried to fill “JUDGE” with as many panic chords, blast beats and 808 drops as possible, just to introduce the EP’s direction from track one. The end result was a musically freeing experience that felt even fresher to us because of re: turn, and we love the way they play off of each other dynamically.
Heavy Production:
It was really important to us that this EP was sonically presented the way we heard it in our heads. Because of this, we recorded with Jake Checkoway, and had Owen Traynor mix the EP. Jake and Owen both have an amazing history with mixing and production, and Owen has done a ton of heavy music that we really love. They played in the screamo band Shin Guard, and currently play in Hazing Over, a dope metalcore band from Pittsburgh. We played a few shows with Shin Guard back in the day, and have always been a big fan of what Owen does mix wise so we were super happy to be able to work together on DEPART.
“JUDGE” especially is such a commitment to the sound we were trying to go for, and they brought out a new element in the mix that really made us feel complete about the song. The drums really come across in a powerful explosive way, which is super important during the blast beat sections; Jake Checkoway definitely crushed it on the recording of the drums and made that sound possible.
Heavy Music and DC Hardcore:
Needle, photo courtesy of the artist
We’ve both always loved a lot of heavy and -core adjacent bands, so when we were working on the instrumental for “JUDGE,” we tried our best to channel that love. In the last third of the song, I think you can hear a heavy influence of DC hardcore, which I’ve always felt a connection to growing up just outside of the city. The history there is undeniable, so it felt special to try to channel that as well. At the time of writing “JUDGE,” I was listening to a lot of the band Mugshot, as well as Needle, a grindcore band from DC.
Lyrically, the song is very stream of consciousness, basically coming from trying to put myself in the mindset of how dark, angry and passionate the songs felt and then going with whatever felt best and most natural. It was an interesting writing experience because I found the best results trying to use my voice more as almost a rhythm instrument, and then come back and figure things out lyrically once everything felt natural and energetic rhythm wise.
Global Pandemic and Pent-Up Frustration:
We first started working on the direction of DEPART very early in the pandemic, which I think played a huge part in how “JUDGE” came to be. Surrounded by a ton of situational anxiety, fear, depression and even anger, it felt like tapping into a heavier sound was more appropriate, and more aligned with where we were mentally at the time. Writing the guitar parts was very therapeutic in that way. It felt like even though we were living in a turbulent and isolating time, we could work on this fresh sound for us, and it kinda served as a proof of existence in a time where it was so easy to forget what it used to feel like to be around people. I definitely can feel that anxiety and anger lingering around the song in its most intense parts.
Origami Angel Surprise-Release Two EPs, Share Origins of New Song “JUDGE”: Exclusive
Jonah Krueger
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