Lady Gaga once became a meme by repeating the expression “there can be 100 people in the room, and 99 don’t believe in you, and you just need one [person] to believe in you.” Now take that sentiment, put it through the shredder, douse the strips in grunge, and you have the new rager from Astral Bitch.
The Boston band on Tuesday (September 10) released their first tune of the year, a head-banging salute to supporters called “Haunting You” that follows their twofer from last February. The single is a full-throttle “thank you” to the people who uplift others in the face of their (thus far) unrealized dreams, framed with an artist’s weary perspective of soldiering towards success. “Brace yourself for a bumpy ride,” vocalist and guitarist Sam Coren snarls, on what has to be the gnarliest ode to loved ones in recent memory.
“Sometimes all it takes is one person to encourage you to stop compromising what you want just to survive,” explains Coren. “So many people give up on their dreams because they’re too afraid of failure to even try. You’ll never be able to take big scary risks and stop living in regret over what could have been if you can’t learn to trust yourself and the people who want to support you.”
Fire up “Haunting You” below.