Premiere: Deception and Denial in The 1 Class' "If You Were Honest"

The 1 Class deal with deception and denial in faulty relationships on “If You Were Honest,” a post-punk leaning song with an indie pop glaze.

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Chicago’s The 1 Class know just how to dig at the heart of our problems. They offered a provocative critique of superficiality and social conformity in January’s “How Real Men Look,” and last November’s “Feel It” pulsed with heartfelt longing for connection. Back at it today, The 1 Class deal with deception and denial in faulty relationships on their new single “If You Were Honest,” a post-punk leaning song with an indie pop glaze.

And I want the truth
If you were honest
Then maybe I would be too

Pain makes a great song
But wisdom plays it the best
And truth may hurt
But it hurts the best

Listen: “If You Were Honest” – The 1 Class

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Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “If You Were Honest,” the third in our premiere series with Chicago indie duo The 1 Class. The latest from Chris Holben and Jacob Dollaske’s pop/rock project finds them diving into heavy emotions with equally heavy sounds: “If You Were Honest” is a sincere and humbled self-reflection, a fragile and faulted admission of guilt that highlights our tepid approach to self-critique, both within and outside of relationships.

If You Were Honest - The 1 Class — If You Were Honest – The 1 Class

“Deception is one of the harder lessons to learn in life,” vocalist/guitarist Chris Holben tells Atwood Magazine. “‘If You Were Honest’ is a confession of denial. A lie is not always one-sided; sometimes both people participate. Sometimes it’s us who chose to ignore truths that may be clearer to see than we would like. If we are first honest with ourselves, [then] it becomes a bit more difficult for others to deceive us.”

If you were honest
And I want the truth
If you were honest
If you were honest

Then maybe I would be too

“If You Were Honest” is dark and turbulent, a beating musical onslaught laden with those rich, reverb-swathed guitar riffs we’ve come to expect from The 1 Class. With distinct echoed patterns and distant but lush background harmonies, the song also feels like the band’s most thought-out piece to date – a late-night power-ballad that marries their exploration of melody with their understanding of feeling.

“In terms of sound, it’s heavier, leaning more towards rock on the indie-rock spectrum,” Holben says. “We wanted a sound that could compliment the emotion of the lyrics. The vocals and drums are much more dramatic, while still maintaining the atmospheric tone of a melodic delay-driven guitar.”

I’m tired of excuses
And fake friends
And misuses
I’m tired of words kept
Hidden behind smiles and…

If you were honest

Coming from a place of truth and wisdom gained through experience, “If You Were Honest” lights a bittersweet fire that we can try run from, but never escape. Stream the latest from The 1 Class, exclusively on Atwood Magazine!

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