Singing for escape.
Music was one of the rare bright spots of 2020 and part of that was thanks to Porridge Radio’s fantastic, powerful breakthrough record, Every Bad. Now, the British four-piece has returned for their highly-anticipated follow-up with “Back To The Radio,” a song that was born from the anxiety of releasing the album that changed everything in their lives. Such a drastic shift, even a successful one, can be difficult to manage and can be just as frightening as it is exhilarating.
The song has a slow burn that puts frontperson Dana Margolin’s nervous, desperate vocals at the center of a building storm. “We almost got better, we’re so unprepared for this / Running straight at it, I’m not the right man for this,” she sings as a mix of brisk guitar chords and a jaunty synth melody play along. You can hear the DNA of their previous album in the track, but it also feels like a step towards a nimbler sound for the band.
But even as they change, the passion remains just as strong. As Margolin said, “There’s a huge feeling of catharsis in this song, of letting go and letting it sweep you away.”
“Back To The Radio” is the opening track to Porridge Radio’s new album, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky, out on May 20 via Secretly Canadian.