Song You Need to Know: Jay Som and Palehound Join Forces as Bachelor on ‘Anything at All’

There are few greater joys in music fandom than an unexpected and perfect collaboration. Bachelor, the new project from Jay Som and Palehound, provide just that with their debut, “Anything at All.”

The pair made the track early last year, during what was then expected to be a brief respite from touring before the Covid-19 pandemic set in. Written, performed, and produced entirely by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner, “Anything At All” is an expertly designed piece of indie rock: a tasteful bass bump anchors the track, while guitars, synths, and pianos flicker anxiously during the verses before a big guitar hook that’s all carom and crunch, like a tidal wave on repeat.

In a statement, Bachelor called “Anything at All” an “even blend of our tastes and writing styles,” and to that end it also finds Duterte and Kempner literally sharing vocal duties — their voices blended together into a single lead. The vignette they present is striking and dark, a clash of desire and uncertainty, to stay or to go, speak or don’t speak: “When I talk there’s a devil,” they sing, “Making me so profane/And every dirty word becomes your name.”

All that strain coalesces in the song’s payoff: an instrumental bridge that swells with oceanic heft as the guitars ring jagged and true, and yet there’s still some serenity keeping the chaos in check. When the storm recedes, the opening bass bump returns, almost like a moment of clarity, even though it feels like there’s still so much left unsaid.

Find a playlist of all of our recent Songs You Need to Know selections on Spotify.

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