“I didn’t really know what to do with this song at first,” admits Paul Murphy—usually of Wintersleep—about his new single, “Inside Out,” from his solo music project, POSTDATA. It’s the third to be released from the upcoming POSTDATA album, Twin Flames, and it is perhaps that indecision that has caused Murphy to veer away from his usual path.
To say nothing of POSTDATA’s sophomore album, Let’s Be Wilderness, Twin Flames has, up to this point, featured a certain patina of dread; a thread running through it weaving together something between ennui and a sense melancholy that would have made Leonard Cohen proud.
The previously released singles, “Nobody Knows” and “Twin Flames,” have encompassed such topics as isolation and general unease. “Inside Out,” however, is unquestionably a joyfully effervescent love song that borders on the genre of pop. Building on a glowing bit of piano, the track sidles right up against the side of a horn section to brazenly inform you of its overwhelming positivity.
“It has this open-hearted feeling to it and I usually try and mess with a song lyrically or darken it up when there’s something musically so light and warm,” says Murphy. “I don’t know why that’s always the inclination? For this though… and maybe it was because I completed it during the first lockdown period, I wanted to really celebrate that warmness or joyous quality, to lift it up. Endow it. It helped. I hope it lifts you up a little bit too.”
We can only assume it’s a sign of what is yet to come as Murphy assures us that the album is “focused on creating or surrounding itself in hope and warmth.”
POSTDATA’s forthcoming new album, Twin Flames, will be released via Paper Bag Records, March 5, 2021.
POSTDATA is scheduled to perform an intimate, acoustic show on March 12, 2021 at 9:00 pm ET, revealing the exquisite tracks from Twin Flames for the very first time live and in an entirely special way. Presented by Paper Bag Records + Side Door Access. Ticket + special vinyl bundles are available HERE.