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Slow Dakota’s “I Am Held Together” Is a Solemn Slow Burn (Premiere)

Spoiler alert: this track is a huge bummer, so if you are not into melancholy ballads, you might want to peruse some of our cheerier premieres. But, if like me you thrive on somber jams (and who doesn’t love the occasional sad song?), then Slow Dakota’s piano-driven “I Am Held Together” is the perfect tune for an introverted morning of sipping coffee and ruminating wistfully.

Though the narrator of this track speaks frankly about the fears and anger that accompany depression—”I am held together by a string of pills I take each day”—the track takes a turn for the hopeful side by way of its lush arrangement. What begins as a spare piano progression with water drop percussion swells into an instrumental break that sounds as glorious as the sun reemerging after a temperamental storm.

The Indiana-based art pop band has a knack for portraying a tormented narrative with its songwriting but ultimately brightening this morose grayness with its thoughtful melodies. This is just the group’s third single, so hopefully that means there is more to speak of soon. I would not mind an album of tracks like these for a foggy Sunday morning.

Matt Grosinger is the Music Editor of Nerdist. You can find him lamenting things and talking about music on Twitter.

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