Palehound’s 2017 sophomore album A Place I’ll Always Go stands out as one of the more raw and emotionally vulnerable albums to come out of Boston in quite some time. Now Ellen Kempner is preparing the release for its follow-up, June 7’s Black Friday, via Polyvinyl, and the brilliant songwriter and musician continues to utilize her music to convey a brutal honesty within evolving themes of self-understanding and self-assessment.
Palehound’s latest track, the poignant “Worthy,” is a tale about struggling with body image and appreciating a partner who loves her unconditionally. When Kempner gently sings “I think I hate my body / ‘Til it’s next to yours”, the emotional pull is intense yet unflinching.
“Being a fat girl in indie rock has lead me to have a very skewed image of my body,” Kempner says via Twitter. “‘Worthy’ is about breaking down the self hatred that this environment has planted in me.”
This new Palehound single comes with a music video, directed by Robert Kolodny and House of Nod. And both the song and video are certainly “Worthy” of your time.