Launched Into Rotten Paranoia: Porch Light’s Latest Singles
“The worst is over / Sending me into paranoia.” Ahead of their upcoming debut album Hush, Porch Light just delivered the perfect set of singles for those of us who find ourselves constantly trapped within our own heads. Pouring doubt over every situation we possibly can, overthinking has grown into a disgustingly unconscious habit and Porch Light describes those feelings in ways that leave you reeling from relatability.
“Paranoia” starts off seemingly unassuming, perhaps a little anxious, but nothing you can’t handle. However, it quickly descends, or should I say decays, into disordered thoughts that resemble rotting faith and confrontational suspicion. It’s self-deprecating, until it isn’t: “Hit my head on the way down / From the losses in the wrong apartment now / Look what I started.”
The bridge embodies the exhausting battle of deteriorating trust and the overwhelming feeling of being blind to what’s really going on: “Sleeping through alarms again / Like I’m begging to ignore the things I wish I did / Will you please stop screaming at me? / What’s under the bed? / I’m compromised, I’m immune / Put your hands behind your head / I can’t see the road ahead.”
Driven by heavy guitar and an accusatory tone, the song as a whole is an example of when your inability to trust turns into the very thing that eats away at your ability to think rationally: “It’s getting heavy, can’t see the line between passion and wine / When you won’t answer me.”
Porch Light surprised fans by releasing a second single titled “James” alongside “Paranoia.”
Abandoning the defensive armour meant to protect the individual in “Paranoia,” “James” divulges into what it feels like to become wounded in the pursuit of love and connection: “You were all, you were all that I want / Now it’s running me right through like a shotgun / Oh, waited for it, now it’s in my side.” Instead of carrying the same accusatory tone as when the individual in “Paranoia” asks someone they thought they could trust to “put your hands behind your head,” “James” is more accepting of the hurt they’re experiencing. The pain wasn’t caused by some dramatic and unexpected betrayal, it was an anticipated result of this connection that was ultimately fated to fail, even after you begged yourself to turn a blind eye to it: “More awake than I ever was / As a failure in this space that we’re giving up.”
The comfortable familiarity that came with building this failed relationship has also grown into damaging over-familiarity, rendering the individual unwilling to find and pursue real connection with anyone else: “Too familiar for a different touch / The embrace and true connection of another love.”
The vocal delivery and production of “James” is also in high contrast to that of “Paranoia.” With rhythmic cymbals and mellow guitar as the main instrumental supports, the vocals on “James” flow into your ear through light and airy tones, yet they’re consciously weighted down by devastatingly vulnerable and introspective lyrical meaning.
In the end, “Paranoia” and “James” show us two sides of the same coin, the before and after. The two singles also feed us a deliciously anxious taste of what to expect from their upcoming album that will without a doubt be one of the best debut albums a band could create.
Following the release of their album Hush on September 18, Porchlight is set to play their biggest North American headlining tour yet with openers superhero, Common People, Nautics, and Hotel Fiction. Porch Light are no strangers to performing life-changing sets so be sure to grab your tickets before it’s too late! Listen to “Paranoia” and “James” below.
