Interview: Brooklyn Duo Overcoats Ignite with an Urgent and Irresistible “Fire & Fury”

With “Fire & Fury” and their sophomore album ‘The Fight’, Brooklyn duo Overcoats are marrying irresistibly catchy songwriting with the intensity of living in a broken, fractured world.

Stream: “Fire & Fury” – Overcoats

We are living in a time of self-obsession – social media is thriving at the same time our world is dying. We need to look up from our phones and fix this planet together.

There is something special about Overcoats’ latest music that speaks to the urgency and tension of our present day. The Brooklyn duo began their sophomore album campaign with the unapologetic and bold “The Fool,” shaving their heads hair off in a defiant, striking music video. It was a leap of faith, and it paid off: “We wiped the slate clean and decided to jump,” they said at the time.

Ever since then, Overcoats’ perspective and tone have seen a seismic shift. They’re still singing about human connection, but between “The Fool,” “Leave If You Wanna,” “Keep the Faith, and “Fire & Fury,” it’s as if the weight of the world has fallen upon Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell’s shoulders. It’s a heavy burden to bear, but given the kind of stunning music they’ve been releasing, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

At this particular point in our political climate, it feels so important to have hope through the chaos – and to get fired up about what’s wrong and know that if we fight together, we can fix it.

Out March 6, 2020 via Loma Vista Recordings, Overcoats’ sophomore album is aptly-titled The Fight. Self-described as a “ten-song battle cry,” the record marries Overcoats’ irresistibly catchy songwriting with the intensity of living in a broken, fractured world. A mature and striking follow-up to the band’s 2017 debut YOUNG, The Fight is unrelenting and immediate: Its songs call for action on all levels, from our personal relationships to climate change and beyond.

Oh I’m wild for you baby,
won’t you take me home tonight
Cause I can’t stand these people?
Oh, I’ve been thinking lately
The world as I know it
Is coming to an end

So just stop and say something do you see what I see?
I’ve been fighting but you’re still at the party
Is this the part where you don’t even know me at all?

Nowhere is this felt on a more visceral level than on The Fight‘s final single, the dynamic “Fire & Fury.” An ambitious pop/rock song showcasing Overcoats’ signature vocal harmonies, “Fire & Fury” is a promise of hope if and only if we can join hands to solve our problems. “We want people to feel the hope in this song, and the chorus came out like a rocket,” Overcoats tell Atwood Magazine. “We needed to yell that together, we’ll get through it.”

There’s a fire, there’s a fury
Sky is falling but we’ll get through it
There’s a fire, there’s a fury
Sky is falling but we’ll get through it

Sparks fly as Elion and Mitchell build out a dazzling moment of optimism and faith. Like the tranquil calm before what is sure to be a devastating storm, “Fire & Fury” blends invigorating strength with sobering heavy-heartedness. The band’s restlessness to fix that which is shattered can be felt in all parts of their driving tune: Throughout the song, they are pulling us in a forward direction, urging us onward and upward toward (hopefully) greener pastures.

Excitement is in the air as Overcoats help us find the power to persevere.

With just a week out until The Fight‘s release, Atwood Magazine spoke to Overcoats about “Fire & Fury,” their musical growth, and the urgency of the present day. As Atwood Magazine writer Nina Schaarschmidt recently wrote, “They are here to tell all the broken-hearted of us with their new release, that we are not alone and that there are better times to come.”

The thing is, only we can make those better times happen – and we have to act now.

The Fight is out March 6, 2020!

We hope the album provides light at the end of the tunnel.

“FIRE & FURY” WITH OVERCOATS

Overcoats: It feels just as poignant now as it did when we wrote it. At this particular point in our political climate, it feels so important to have hope through the chaos – and to get fired up about what’s wrong and know that if we fight together, we can fix it.

Overcoats: This song started off being about a relationship, but it later expanded into talking about climate change, apocalypse, and our society’s obsession with vanity. We are living in a time of self-obsession – social media is thriving at the same time our world is dying. We need to look up from our phones and fix this planet together.

Overcoats: “The Fool” is our thesis – it’s the song that most encapsulates what our record is about. “Fire & Fury” is another part of the story — it expands our new sound with tenderness.

Overcoats: That’s interesting – I would say this song is one of the most different from our original sound, because so much of it is organic instrumentation. But definitely there’s an aesthetic minimalism to it, which might be reminding you of that first EP!

Overcoats: We were listening to everything from The Beatles to Lorde. We wanted the song to be a bit like a mix between “Revolution” by The Beatles and “Green Light” by Lorde. Modern but classic.

Overcoats: I hope the song stands the test of time, and that it still provides listeners with hope. However, I also hope that in 5-10 years we will have left these isolationist politics behind us… and we’ll be able to think back on this period and say, “Wow those were dark times.”

Overcoats: I don’t think so. This song feels like the anthem we need today. So much of it is about this particular moment we are living in… The cultural emphasis on vanity and self obsession at a time when things are at breaking point. Societally and politically there’s such a huge divide, we could not have predicted this. Sonically, the song feels like a departure from the music we were making four years ago. It’s a new, poppier, melding of genres!

Overcoats: We’re talking about intense things in this song… A seemingly irreparable fight with your partner, the climate crisis, etc… And so it’s very important to have a release — an exhale. We want people to feel the hope in this song, and the chorus came out like a rocket. We needed to yell that together, we’ll get through it.

Overcoats: So hard to choose! Really love New Shoes which is a totally stripped down song that’s a vow of self worth and respect. Another favorite is Apathetic Boys which is a tongue in cheek poke at the male dominated canon of rock and roll. And it’s suggesting that it’s not cool to not care.

Overcoats: These songs are a real journey that we want to share with our listeners, old and new! We hope the album provides light at the end of the tunnel.

Stream: “Fire & Fury” – Overcoats

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