Florida indie rock band flipturn warm our ears and our hearts with “Rodeo Clown,” a beautifully beachy reverie whose sun-kissed melodies and sweaty beats set a seductive tone for their highly anticipated sophomore album, ‘Burnout Days.’
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Stream: “Rodeo Clown” – flipturn
Yes, I will happily join flipturn and float above the clouds any day of the week.
The Florida indie rock band’s first song of the year is a beautifully beachy reverie full of hot, sun-kissed melodies and sweaty, soul-stirring beats. It’s a lush, hazy seduction ready to warm our ears and our hearts as we join in the band’s daydream, fantasizing about intimacy, existential connection, and the life of a “Rodeo Clown.”
MDMA made me love you more
it’s all just a chemical feeling
So don’t take it so personal oh
My love’s still got meaning
And I’ve been waiting
For you to figure that out
My intoxication
Doesn’t mean, it didn’t count
Released September 26th via Dualtone Music Group, “Rodeo Clown” is the enchanting, entrancing lead single off flipturn’s forthcoming sophomore album, Burnout Days (due out January 2025).
And what a return to the fore: Following 2022’s critically acclaimed debut LP Shadowglow and its 2023 deluxe release, this new single sees flipturn leaning ever-more into the smoldering vibes that have made them a beloved act in the indie and alternative worlds. It’s a feel-good, smile-inducing song ready to whisk us off our feet, and honestly, what more could we possibly ask for?
I’ve been feeling the weight of everything
yeah babe I hold it down
Floating into the same old empty I feel it now
I’ve been riding I’ve been rolling
I’ve thrown my reputation around
And I’m not a man with too many enemies
I’m just the rodeo clown
I’ve been giving away my comedy, I’ve been playing the crowd…
“When writing ‘Rodeo Clown,’ we always felt like it exuded a feeling of floating and weightlessness,” Madeline Jarman tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s a story of escaping reality, and putting on a happy face to distract others from realizing we may be dealing with emotional burdens and setbacks that life hands us.”
“It’s a song about coping with stress through a vice as a way to escape a reality I didn’t want to be in at the time,” lead vocalist and guitarist Dillon Basse adds. “Contrary to ‘the man in the arena,’ the rodeo clown in the ring distracts and puts on a show for those around him.”
And you’ve been waiting
For me to figure that out
Acting on emotion
Getting off, getting down
I’ve been feeling the weight of everything
yeah babe I hold it down
Floating into the same old empty I feel it now
I’ve been giving away my comedy
I’ve been playing the crowd
Floating into the same old empty
I feel it now
I think I feel it now
There are those songs where you feel every bit of the raw, intense emotional weight that went into them, and then there are those that, somewhere between input and output, inspiration and creation, channel those heavier feelings into lighter, gentler sounds. “Rodeo Clown” is a prime example of the latter, where that intense aching Basse described come to the fore as a cathartic exhale: A blanket of soothing sonic heat and relaxed, tender, melodic wonder.
It may be a show, and it may be a distraction, but it’s a damn good one – such that by the end of those three and a half minutes, we can’t help but join in flipturn’s reverie. Here’s to basking in life’s blissful escapes, wherever we find them – in a song or in the ring.
As for flipturn, we’ll be paying extra special attention over the coming months as the band continue to tease their sophomore album. Burnout Days is set to release January 2025!
I’ve been feeling the weight of everything
yeah babe I hold it down
Floating into the same old empty I feel it now
I’ve been giving away my comedy I’ve been playing the crowd
Floating into the same old empty I feel it now
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:: stream/purchase Rodeo Clown here ::
:: connect with flipturn here ::
Stream: “Rodeo Clown” – flipturn
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© Amanda Laferriere
© Amanda Laferriere
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