Baby Snakes & The Electric Co. make one hell of an entrance with their cinematic debut single “Dark Horse,” a soul-stirring rock anthem that transforms Jeff Saenz’s search for answers into a full-throttle testament to messy, enduring love and the choice to keep moving forward – scars and all.

Stream: “Dark Horse” – Baby Snakes & the Electric Co.

I believe in our darkest nights, babe / And I believe in our sins…

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Real love is knowing that life is messy and people are complicated – and choosing each other anyway.

“Dark Horse,” the debut single from Baby Snakes & The Electric Co., begins with an oath and becomes a getaway car: A cinematic surge of asphalt, sweat, electric love, and hard-earned devotion racing toward the morning. Born from the charged space where survival becomes movement, the song looks life’s hardest truths squarely in the eye and chooses the whole ride – scars and all.

This is romance with engine heat. It’s passion as forward motion, commitment as combustion, and rock ‘n’ roll as the sound of two people trashing the rearview mirror because the only life worth reaching for is the one still waiting up ahead.

And it’s one hell of an entrance.

I believe in our darkest nights, babe
And I believe in our sins
I see you like a star laced sky, babe
Diamonds light your skin

And I believe we’re the dark horse, baby
I believe we can win
Twist the key to a brand new start, babe
Turn this motor over and over,
Again, and again, and again

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Dark Horse,” the soul-stirring debut single from Baby Snakes & The Electric Co., the new solo project from Dallas-based musician, producer, studio owner, and Modern Electric Sound Recorders founder Jeff Saenz. The song arrives as the first taste of Baby Snakes & The Electric Co.’s debut album, Ouroboros, out October 23 via Spaceflight Records – a 12-track record born from one year of spontaneous writing sessions, hard-won self-reckoning, and Saenz’s return to the center of his own story after decades spent helping other artists tell theirs.

Long known to friends and collaborators as “Baby Snakes,” Saenz has lived many lives in music. He came up in punk bands, moved through rock, alternative country, and Americana circles, learned from producer Dave Cobb, played guitar for Kris Kristofferson, performed on Willie Nelson’s ranch, and helped shape Dallas’ creative landscape through Modern Electric Sound Recorders – a studio that’s become a gathering place for artists across North Texas’ sprawling, ever-evolving scene. After years as a conduit, collaborator, and behind-the-board force, Ouroboros brings Saenz’s voice to the foreground with urgency, humor, tenderness, and a full-bodied rock ‘n’ roll fire that refuses to treat survival as the end of the story.

The roots of that story reach back to June 1, 2021, when Saenz walked into his own yard and was struck by nearly 8,000 volts of electricity. By all accounts, he wasn’t supposed to survive. In the aftermath, he lost his left hand and right arm, endured a long recovery, and found himself facing the kind of question that cuts especially deep for a lifelong musician, producer, and player: What happens when the life you built through your hands has to find another way forward?

Ouroboros came out of Saenz’s search for answers. Written and recorded one song at a time over the course of a year, the album marks his return to music as a lead voice – scarred, determined, and still chasing the spark.

It’s a reckoning with the life that changed in an instant, a redemption arc powered by devotion, and a reflection on the people, memories, and hard-won truths that matter most when everything familiar has been remade – when your story has been rewritten against your will.

These roads are drenched
With the sweat of our hearts tonight
Ready for conflict,
Desperate for the finish line
Thirsty for the wind,
To start over again

“This song is about hitting the gas through tragedy, because sometimes the only way out is through,” Saenz tells Atwood Magazine. “Built from the fire you find yourself in after the smoke clears, it’s the moment you look your person in the eye and decide: Are we in this together? The answer is an emphatic yes. Take that love and move forward; a clearing always awaits.”

For Saenz, that clearing begins with acceptance – of the person beside you, of the life you’ve lived, and of the love that remains when the easy version has fallen away.

“‘Dark Horse’ to me is that moment when you recognize that you love the people in your life for all of them – even if some of it’s hard to reconcile,” he explains. “The first lyrics of the song are, ‘I believe in our darkest nights, babe, and I believe in our sins.’ It’s saying that, no matter what, I don’t think I would change anything. We are defined by us – by everything we experience. I love her so much that it’s like, I believe in this, regardless of trying times. I believe that this is where I’m supposed to be, and I’m with my person.”

He continues, “It really has the sentiment of taking that and saying, ‘That’s it. We love each other, and we are owning it all and accepting it all.’ We’re gonna get in this muscle car, hot rod, whatever, and just go for it. No looking back. It’s a testament to love being hard, but ultimately being worth it if you’re with the right person. I do think the chorus kind of says it. ‘These roads are drenched with the sweat of our hearts tonight.’ We’re going, but it’s not easy. This is an exercise. We’re choosing to accept each other for all of our worst parts just as well as our best. And we’re going to make the decision to get in this car and hit the gas, but we’re still working. We’re still sweating it out through this whole thing.”

You can hear that work in the way “Dark Horse” moves. Saenz begins in a place of intimate recognition, his voice glistening over a tender, ‘80s-touched rock atmosphere that feels caught between late-night confession and open-road escape. The first words he sings – “I believe in our darkest nights, babe / And I believe in our sins” – land like a vow made with both eyes open. There’s no fantasy of spotless love here; no attempt to smooth over the wear and pressure that come with being human. Instead, “Dark Horse” finds its romance in the decision to keep choosing, even when the road is drenched, the tires are wearing thin, and the heart is still sweating through the work.

I believe these tires were made for burning
But we’re wearing them thin
I see you when you hit the brights, babe
Feel our light through your skin,
When I’m in, yeah I’m in, turn me over again

These roads are drenched
With the sweat of our hearts tonight
Ready for friction,
Desperate for kinetic light
Thirsty for the wind
To start over again,
Let’s start over again

The chorus turns that decision into release. “And I believe we’re the dark horse, baby, I believe we can win,” Saenz sings emphatically, letting the phrase rise from private affirmation into triumphant, full-band conviction. Around him, the music expands from its glistening opening into a spirited, cinematic rush: Guitars glowing and grooving, drums pressing harder into the pulse, the whole arrangement gathering speed until devotion starts to feel like velocity. By the time he sings “Twist the key to a brand new start, babe,” the song has already become exactly that – an ignition, a risk, a second wind.

“At the time of that session, it was an affirmation I needed for myself,” Saenz recalls. “There was a lot of uncertainty in my world, and putting those words to a song felt really powerful. The idea of the ‘dark horse’ – the one that you don’t see coming from the back of the pack and slides through the rest of them and wins the race.”

That image gives “Dark Horse” its emotional lift. The underdog isn’t only racing toward victory; he’s racing toward belief itself. Saenz writes with the force of a man spilling his raw self into song, wearing his heart on his sleeve while the band builds around him in surging waves of grit and grace. The verses sweat. The chorus soars. The bridge tears the roof off the car and lets the night rush in: “Tops down, grab that pretty scarf from the glove box, I don’t care where we go.” It’s a scene of reckless devotion, but not reckless abandon. Every image points toward the same choice: No looking back, no pretending the past was clean, no waiting for love to become easy before calling it worth the ride.

And that’s where “Dark Horse” hits hardest. Its passion isn’t polished into perfection; it’s alive because it still has dirt under its nails. Saenz channels love into motion without stripping away its effort, its friction, or its heat. He lets the song reach a cathartic, emotionally charged climax that feels earned from the inside out – churning drums, ringing guitars, and a voice pushing past uncertainty into the bright, bruised thrill of still believing.

Tops down,
Grab that pretty scarf from the glove box
I don’t care where we go
Somewhere, anywhere…
As long as I’m with you
We’re f***ing liminal baby
Wrap me up, get me high on your love
Alone in the middle of the
pitch black asphalt is just fine
Trash that rear view mirror,
‘cause we’re never looking back…
I’m yours, be mine

These roads are drenched with the sweat of our hearts tonight…

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By the end, “Dark Horse” feels like so much more than a debut single.

It’s a declaration of purpose from an artist stepping into the spotlight with his whole life in the rearview and the wheel still pointed toward the road ahead – but it’s also a reminder that love, at its most human, has never been about finding the perfect road. It’s about choosing the person beside you when times get rough, when the past refuses to disappear, when the future asks for more courage than you knew you had. Jeff Saenz doesn’t sing as though devotion is easy; he sings as though it’s worth the sweat, the friction, the faith, and the work.

That’s what makes “Dark Horse” such a stirring first statement. It doesn’t flatten survival into inspiration or romance into fantasy; it lets both feel alive, complicated, and beautifully unfinished. In Saenz’s world, rock ‘n’ roll becomes a vehicle for belief itself – a way of taking everything life has thrown at you, everything love has asked of you, and turning it into forward motion. “Dark Horse” arrives with grit, heart, and cinematic force, but its deepest power lies in the truth it carries so plainly: We are not saved by untouched lives or spotless love. We are saved, again and again, by the people who see us fully and still choose the ride.

And beyond its story, “Dark Horse” simply sounds incredible. Saenz knows how to make a room bloom around a vocal, and every choice here serves the feeling: The guitars flash and open up at just the right moments, the rhythm section gives the song its restless pulse, and the melody keeps widening until the final chorus feels almost communal. It’s polished, but never sterile; huge, but still human. You can hear a lifetime of playing, producing, listening, and loving rock ‘n’ roll in the way “Dark Horse” carries itself – with craft in its bones and fire in its lungs.

Stream “Dark Horse” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and get to know Baby Snakes & The Electric Co. in our interview below as Jeff Saenz opens up about stepping into the spotlight after years behind the board, the accident that changed his life, and the complicated, enduring devotion that fuels his debut single. Real love is messy, people are complicated, and Baby Snakes & The Electric Co. meet that truth at full volume – choosing the road ahead, again and again.

I believe in electric love babe
Still believe in our sins

These roads are drenched
With the sweat of our hearts tonight
Running down our love into the morning light
Thirsty for the wind,
To start over again
Thirsty for the wind,
To start over again…
Let’s start over again

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:: stream/purchase Dark Horse here ::

:: connect with Baby Snakes & the Electric Co. here ::

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Stream: “Dark Horse” – Baby Snakes & the Electric Co.

A CONVERSATION WITH BABY SNAKES & THE ELECTRIC CO.

Baby Snakes & The Electric Co. (Jeff Saenz): The truth is, I really had no end goal with these recordings aside from keeping the promise to myself to write and record once a month throughout last year. I wasn’t even sure whether I would put them out or not, and I definitely had no band in mind. Something was born in those sessions, and it eventually felt like it had just taken on a life of its own. I knew it was something bigger than just an exercise and discipline with my own music. It started to feel more like a testament of will, and that feeling had to be followed all the way through.

Baby Snakes: Well, the nickname “Baby Snakes”? I’ll never tell. Hahaha. It’s just one of those inside jokes among friends that ended up sticking. After my accident, the whole community kind of rolled with the whole “Baby Snakes” thing, and watching this amazing, beautiful community rally behind it made it feel important. As far as the “Electric Co.”, well… Considering I got hit with a little less than 4x the amount of voltage of the electric chair, I thought I had earned the right to call my band “The Electric Co.”!

Baby Snakes: I’ve never really been one to stay on one specific vibe from band to band. I love it all, but I’m always looking to try new things – incorporate instruments, sounds, styles that are somewhat outside the lexicon of what I already know. I really gravitate towards layers and layers of melody, the general ethereal feel of lots of reverb and synths. Springsteen has been a huge influence on me since I was a kid, so I guess I’m always trying to tap into a little bit of that, but there was no clear vision going into these recordings… Just treat each song as its own, and do what felt right in that session.

Baby Snakes: I’ve always been drawn to lyrics. I’m the guy that will read every bit of them from the liner of an album. The way we made this album – going into the studio with nothing each month, writing it all on the spot, Chords, lyrics, melodies, everything – didn’t leave much room for me to edit myself or audit my feelings about what I was writing. I was just going with how I felt and what I was going through on those specific days. Although much of it was not easy to write, so to speak, I always manage to find beauty in it. I refused to write from the vantage point of defeat. I think knowing that I always maintained an air of hope and determination in these lyrics helped me see myself a little more clearly. I’ve never really viewed myself as some kind of optimist – certainly not toxically positive – but I did see that resilience in myself through those sessions. It really felt good to see myself in that way, even if I wasn’t writing about the easiest subject matter at times.

Baby Snakes: Even though it was completely unintentional, making the record the way that we made it led to it reading like the story of a year of my life by the time we were done. I hadn’t put much thought into the sequencing of the songs until we were wrapping it up last December. One of the guys suggested we just sequence it chronologically, which I’ve been thinking about in the back of my mind a bit, I suppose. It then made sense to me that that would be the best way to tell the story. Then, that got me thinking about the singles. I recorded 12 songs over the course of one year… One each month. That means I have three songs from each season of the year. When I chose the singles, I intentionally chose one from each season. “Dark Horse” is the second track on the album, and represents winter. I also think “Dark Horse” has the kind of feel to it that really helps set the stage and prime the story.

Baby Snakes: I wanted to capture the idea of embracing the best and the worst of each other, making that decision to get up and go. To hit the gas. That love is awesome, but it’s hard, and there’s definitely wear and tear to it. No matter what, however, you keep moving towards a better and better version of it.

Baby Snakes: At the time of that session, it was an affirmation I needed for myself. There was a lot of uncertainty in my world, and putting those words to a song felt really powerful. The idea of the dark horse – the one that you don’t see coming from the back of the pack and slides through the rest of them and wins the race.

Baby Snakes: It really goes back to something that I think has always been in me, but I really began to understand about myself when I was in the hospital. Forward is the only way. An old bandmate/friend of mine once said, “The past is an okay place to visit, but it’s a hell of a place to live.” That always stuck with me. The road has a direction, depending on what side of it you’re on, but on either side of that road, the only way you can go is forward. It doesn’t really matter which side of the road we’re on, as long as we’re both in that car together, heading forward.

Baby Snakes: It was completely unpredictable month-to-month. There is no way that I could’ve predicted what the next month’s song could be about, feel like, sound like, etc. It was a total moving target; I had to just run with exactly wherever I was emotionally and mentally on those specific days. I think there’s a real honest flow of emotion throughout the album. Sometimes it’s a dedication, sometimes it’s an exorcism, but it’s always honest, and it’s always full of love and hope.

Baby Snakes: Being a producer, your job is to manage – even micromanage! – the sessions. To have your eye and your ear on everything. I was really surprised at how capable I was of letting go. I couldn’t tell you what mics we used on what instruments for what songs on this album to save my life, but I could probably rattle off the entire set up for an album I did a decade ago. It felt good to let go of that part of things and just really give my trust to whoever was in the session. I was still definitely very involved, but I needed that space to do my part.

Baby Snakes: I hope anyone listening to “Dark Horse” feels the hope and the strength I’m trying to convey from a place so full of uncertainty. To just know that even when it might feel like you’re coming close to hopelessness, you can find strength at the gas pedal and keep going.

Baby Snakes: I mean, I’m always listening to Nick Cave. I love Matt Berninger’s newest solo album; I love Casandra Jenkins and Billie Nomates. I think the whole world needs to hear About You.

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:: stream/purchase Dark Horse here ::

:: connect with Baby Snakes & the Electric Co. here ::

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Stream: “Dark Horse” – Baby Snakes & the Electric Co.

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