Indianapolis alt-rock artist FRANK channels raw ferocity and manic energy into a cathartic storm on “Steady Hands,” her explosive, high-voltage anthem about trusting your instincts when the world crumbles around you.
Stream: “Steady Hands” – FRANK
Swallow the dream as you crawl in the smoke, might as well have a laugh at The American Joke…
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There’s nothing steady about “Steady Hands.”
FRANK’s new single is all fire and friction – a relentless, high-voltage alt-rock anthem that burns with conviction and catharsis. The Indianapolis artist (born Sydney Elliott) channels pure, unfiltered ferocity into every bar: A surge of manic guitars, pounding percussion, and vocals that feel both bruised and untouchable. The result is a fever dream of sound and spirit, blistering and beautiful in equal measure. This is FRANK at her most unapologetic – hot, furious, and alive in every note.
I don’t need a voice to make the motion
Standing on the edge I see the light
I don’t need a tidal wave emotion
I know when to jump and feel no fright
Letting go might rip it all away
Manic, no tight grip, you’re so afraid
Tremors in your fingers and your veins
Signal to the sky
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Steady Hands,” the blistering new single and lyric video from FRANK. Releasing November 7, 2025 via Absorb., the song marks the artist’s first release since this past May’s explosive debut EP My Darkness Is Not Pitch Black, a record that fused grunge, industrial, and indie rock into a raw and riveting portrait of self-discovery. Co-written and produced with Owen Thomas (Kishi Bashi, The Band Perry, Dream Chief), “Steady Hands” pushes that sound even further – a turbo-charged, punk-infused storm about trusting your instincts when the world starts to crumble.
Steady hands got a grip on the rope
And you try not to think but you’ll die if you choke
Did it occur? Never crash, never burn
How are you gonna learn?
You gotta trust these steady hands
From its very first breath, this song feels like ignition – a spark catching flame, spreading fast and wild. “Steady Hands” doesn’t just erupt; it seethes.
Guitars growl and grind with a feral edge, the drums pounding forward like a pulse under pressure. Every moment feels on the brink of combustion – a coiled spring of tension and release. Elliott commands it all, her voice a conduit of chaos and control, soaring through the storm one breath away from breaking. It’s an attention-grabbing performance that makes you lean in and hold on.
“I don’t need a voice to make the motion,” she sings hot on the mic, coming in swinging with a declaration of pure, dramatic defiance. That starting line alone encapsulates the spirit of “Steady Hands”: A song about trusting yourself when everything around you wavers, about holding the line when the world shakes beneath you. “Standing on the edge I see the light,” she continues, dark sonic storm clouds brewing all around her. “I don’t need a tidal wave emotion. I know when to jump and feel no fright…” There’s something both dangerous and empowering in the way she delivers her words – not as a plea, but as a promise.
The verse unspools like an adrenaline rush, each line crackling with the same manic tension that defines the song’s searing sound. That tension doesn’t stop there – it builds, tightens, and ultimately bursts as the track swells toward its chorus. The effect is visceral; you can feel FRANK fighting for composure in real time, her voice walking the tightrope between fury and focus. The edge she’s standing on could be the brink of collapse or the start of something new; she never specifies, and that’s what makes it so thrilling. “Steady Hands” captures that raw, human contradiction – fear and freedom colliding in one unstoppable motion. FRANK turns fervor into fuel, letting the noise, sweat, and distortion become her pulse.
Every little choice is pure devotion
People say I’m blinded by the sun
Bet you think I’m drifting in the ocean
Logic is your bullet in the gun
Crumble, crater if you wanna do
F* up later, fantasy approved
Bet it baby, what you got to lose
But the bitterest downside?
At its core, “Steady Hands” is a song about survival – about keeping control when everything threatens to spin out. “‘Steady Hands’ is about the importance of trusting your instincts, especially during life’s most brutal moments,” FRANK tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s about keeping your cool when the world is crumbling and remembering that your gut is usually right. I wanted it to sound like the inside of my head when I’m trying to hold it together – loud, frantic, but focused.”
That push and pull between frenzy and focus sits at the core of FRANK’s artistry. Each verse crackles with kinetic energy – “Letting go might rip it all away… Tremors in your fingers and your veins” – before exploding into that climactic chorus, a mantra of resilience disguised as a dare. “Steady hands got a grip on the rope / And you try not to think but you’ll die if you choke.” It’s desperate, determined, and devastatingly human: A snapshot of someone trying to stay upright while the floor caves in.
The lyric video brings us right into the eye of it: The full band locked in, Elliott spitting into the mic with eyes that could burn a hole through the lens. There’s no artifice, no distance – just raw proximity, sweat, and heat. You can see every breath, every muscle flex against the chaos; it’s a visual mirror of the song itself, capturing the volatility that lives between breakdown and breakthrough. For three fiery minutes, FRANK and her band don’t just perform; they ignite.
Steady hands got a grip on the rope
And you try not to think
but you’ll die if you choke
Did it occur? Never crash, never burn
How are you gonna learn?
You gotta trust these steady hands
In 2025, a song like “Steady Hands” feels vital – not just because it rips, but because it resonates.
We’re all walking some version of that tightrope, trying to stay steady in a world that keeps shaking. FRANK gives that tension a sound and a shape: Catharsis through noise, control through abandon. She reminds us that composure doesn’t always mean quiet; sometimes it’s the scream that steadies you, the burn that brings you back to life. With her final lines – “Swallow the dream as you crawl in the smoke / Might as well have a laugh at The American Joke” – FRANK jolts us wide awake, sending shivers down the spine as she bites back at the present moment with words as bold as they are brash and brazen: A critique of the now in all its fracture and folly. “Steady Hands” hits hard because it’s real: Loud, messy, unfiltered humanity, carried by a voice that refuses to flinch.
Holding out hope for a rainbow
The road to a pot of gold
Where dreams last forever
And lovers will never grow old
Steady hands got a grip on the rope
And you try not to think
but you’ll die if you choke
Did it occur? Never crash, never burn
How are you gonna learn?
You gotta trust these steady hands
Stream “Steady Hands” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more to come from FRANK as she continues to channel chaos into catharsis, lighting the airwaves – and our hearts – on fire through her combustible alt-rock churn.
Swallow the dream as you crawl in the smoke
Might as well have a laugh at The American Joke
Get what you earn, never crash, never burn
How are you gonna learn?
You gotta trust these steady hands
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