Tigercub have never been a band to stick to convention. Following the announcement of a pay-what-you-want EP earlier this week, the band are sharing the release's storming lead single
Sleek and soaring vocals, anthemic chorus chants, rapidfire rhythms, and angular refrains all duelling for attention, "The Divided States Of Us" is as frenetic as it is freewheeling. Dark and driving, the track is a takedown on turmoil as contagious as they come.
“There are two sides to "Divided States Of Us"," frontman Jamie Hall comments, "the literal meaning and the metaphorical. Politically I feel like things are almost 50/50 split at the moment, there’s no longer a centre ground, but it’s also about having a divided mental state internally. A lot of people are frustrated right now and that’s definitely how I feel."
"The song’s kind of about how opposites can exist as the same thing in your psyche," he continues, "how there can be hypocrisy in your own head where you’re totally at odds with yourself; being confused and not being able to fully commit to an idea, logic against emotion, constantly pulling away from each other. The song has no answers to our problems, but it’s about empathy. We’re together in that cathartic creation with other people who have been through that shared experience.”
The single is the first to be shared from the band's upcoming Evolve Or Die EP, which will be released as one of the first ever pay-what-you-want vinyl releases this September. The release was announced earlier this week, with physical manifesto letters delivered to their cult fanbase containing a secret pre-order link and password (KEEPWATCH) within.
"This is a record which has to be heard in its purest form, whether you have money to spend on vinyl or not," label boss Jack Clothier describes. "Conventional music retail is not going to stand in the way of us ensuring that hardcore Tigercub fans can do that.”