Baltimore's Pinkshift understand that paranoia is the general vibe of 2025. They've returned with new single "Evil Eye," their first release of the year, which encapsulates our current reality where anything said within an iPhone's reach is being recorded and generated for ad content or as evidence to minimize our freedoms. "I think they’re watching in every direction/ Close your windows and your blinds/ Hide your face in that disguise," vocalist Ashrita Kumar powerfully howls.
"Evil Eye," is a bit more thrashy and hardcore than Pinkshift's earliest releases in 2019 and 2020. The group have began to shift their sound with 2023's EP suraksha. On "Evil Eye," that hardness suits them well and is fitting of these fucked up times. It almost sounds as if Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" had date with Powerman 5000.
There's also an accompanying visual directed by Pinkshift and Sihan Xu that matches the song's punching unease. One can't even trust their Lucky Charms!
Pinkshift are currently on tour with The Linda Lindas and will also be performing at Liberation Weekend in Washington DC -- the festival created Ekko Astral and trans rights advocacy collective Gender Liberation Movement. Net proceeds will go to Gender Liberation Movement, helping fund future rallies, demonstrations, and protests in the wake of a dangerous uptick in anti-trans policymaking in the US. Get tickets here.
Watch the video for "Evil Eye" below.
