A visceral, smoldering upheaval, Rat Tally’s breathtakingly intimate song “Shrug” aches from the brutal depths of a fragile heart and fractured soul.
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Stream: “Shrug” – Rat Tally
Haven’t you heard lately? I’m uninspired and lazy…
A visceral, smoldering upheaval, Rat Tally’s new single aches from the brutal depths of a fragile heart and fractured soul. “Shrug” is a haunting reckoning – a breathtaking marriage of dark folk rock and indie folk influences paired with powerfully evocative lyrics that capture the artist in a vulnerable state of inner turmoil and self-reflection.
Haven’t you heard lately
I’m uninspired and lazy
People stare hard when I cross the street
Like they know where I really wanna be
And I shrug off last night
You’re silhouette under yellow light
Dark and clean
In front of blurry traffic signs
A dreamy and emotionally potent experience, this is the kind of song you carry with you.
Released January 15 via 6131 Records, “Shrug” is Rat Tally’s first single of 2021 and the long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s debut EP When You Wake Up. The musical project of Chicago (by way of LA and Boston) singer/songwriter Addy Harris, Rat Tally embraces vulnerability in her music as a child might their parent: Her songs inhabit a space of unadulterated intimacy and humbling honesty, each one a powerful window into her world. Her music, previously featured on Sir Sly member Hayden Coplen’s column DIY Radio, has the uncanny ability of conveying complex emotions and ideas through incredibly memorable melodies: Coplen described her debut single “Feel Something” as “a simple, sanguine package of guitar-driven indie rock that gives more than it takes.”
The artist’s first offering in over a year is a heavy, heartfelt overhaul of the self: An ethereal weight hangs over her music as Harris spills her emotions through plaintive, poignant lyrics that are as poetically dazzling as they are heartbreakingly immediate:
And sometimes I wanna scream it in your face
Your dead eyes gawking wide
I wanna throw a fit, fuck, then forget it
And sometimes I think you’re worth it
“‘Shrug’ was recorded half by Sean Sakamoto in my bedroom and in his storage space in LA, and half by Max Grazier in Portsmouth, NH,” Rat Tally tells Atwood Magazine. “This song is about navigating romantic relationships while struggling with mental health. Sometimes we know we aren’t in the best place to start something, but it can be difficult to separate that idea from the feeling of being undeserving of love because of mental illness.”
But I’m sure we’re older than that
But you’d never know, oh you’ll never know
Cause I’ll hide you in the darkest parts of me
Along with the things I don’t want to see
And the things I already let go
Sometimes we know we aren’t in the best place to start something, but it can be difficult to separate that idea from the feeling of being undeserving of love because of mental illness.
An up-and-comer in the indie folk space, Rat Tally’s music is sure to find favor with fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and fellow Atwood artist-to-watch Alaska Reid. Her song is dark, and yet it’s the act of expressing this darkness – letting it out into the world – that results in a beautiful new light. A special moment of truth, “Shrug” feels like the start of something new – a fresh release at the top of a year full of possibility and potential.
Time will tell where she goes from here, but one thing is certain: We’ll be keep a very close ear on Rat Tally from here on out. Once you find something magical, you don’t let it out of your sight.
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Stream: “Shrug” – Rat Tally
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