French Negative – “Hell” (Stereogum Premiere)

French Negative – “Hell” (Stereogum Premiere)

French Negative is the project of LA-based musician David Schaefer, and “Hell” comes from his forthcoming full-length, Sublimate Or Die. It’s a simply constructed but deeply effective track, which approaches the idea of hell as a looming and ever-present state of being. But for a song with a conceit as dark as that one, it’s surprisingly light — Schaefer’s blessed with a voice that sounds irreverent and earnest in equal measure, and it’s grounded by a duet in the chorus courtesy of Phoebe Bridgers. “Hell is a place we all go, sickly and slow,” Schaefer sings in the last verse. “It’s someone you already know, someone you trust. Hell is a lens through which you must view the whole world/ Your friends, the food, the girls, like it were all dust.” Hell is … well, hell, but it can also be a source of comfort if you embrace the uncertainty. “Disaster strikes again — what can you do?” Listen below.

Sublimate Or Die is out later this year. Check out their Bandcamp for more.

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