The Burning Hell released their latest album all of three days ago, but with a super-abundance of free time on their hands it seems like they’ve found ample occasion to get creative and a little stir-crazy. The latest video from the band, the self-explanatory “I Want to Drink in a Bar,” has loquacious lyricist Mathias Kom pinned between desire and restraint as he waxes poetic on his quarantine feelings.
“I Want to Drink in a Bar” has all the straightforward sentimentality of a B.A. Johnston anthem, but Kom takes to songwriting like Alden Nowlan might craft an encyclopedia. It’s engrossing and the cutting left turns are enough to give you whiplash.
If this is a CliffNotes guide to Kom’s state of mind, we’re seeing an expansive quarantine-inspired to-do list being manifested. From Lord of the Rings references to Bruce Springsteen to dancing in Spanish and kissing in Italian, The Burning Hell have packed in their usual dose of adventure.
“I want to dance closer than the candles on a menorah
Quiero baila la lambada, el tango, the hora
Arm in arm with friends and strangers
Oblivious to invisible dangers
Kissing on the cheek cause it seems cool and Italian
Try that now and the cops will send a hazmat battalion”
They even hint at the possibility that the pandemic was caused by “Old Town Road,” and it’s certainly not the least plausible theory we’ve heard.
The band notes that it’s possible that if you buy the single during Bandcamp Day(s), they will be donating all proceeds from the sale to music venues in need. All digital sales of the track from May 1 raised money for Save Our Venues UK and Schokoladen in Berlin, and the band says they will be repeating the process again on June 5 and July 3.
The Burning Hell released their latest album, Never Work, via BB*Island on May 3, 2020.