Before Hallelujah The Hills can bestow their seventh full-length album upon us, they have to spill some musical tea. Actually, they just want to let the record show that “Folk Music Is Insane.”
Finally, someone is saying what we’ve all been thinking since “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers dully echoed in our brains non-stop in 2012. Yet, the new song from the Boston band isn’t so much of a rustic diss track as it is a reflection on genres and all the preconceived notions that cozy up to them. While preparing for the fall 2019 release of their next album I’m You (official release date TBA), “Folk Music Is Insane” sets the scene for what Hallelujah The Hills have been dreaming up since last year’s effort Against Electricity.
“Music genres can help you understand what you’re about to hear, but they also carry a lot of baggage with them,” explains guitarist and vocalist Ryan Walsh. “If I tell you I’m about to play you a country song, you might even start to guess at some of the lyrics (‘lost my truck, lost my car, got fired’ etc.). I like when expectations are subverted, so I started thinking about true but unlikely statements to make about music genres. Best one I came up with was ‘Folk Music Is Insane.’ I truly believe that. And singing that phrase on top of a deep, distorted rock n’ roll riff? Well that’s just the kinda thing this band was born to do.”
Find your own sanity below.