{"id":2442540,"date":"2019-04-04T09:10:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=817239"},"modified":"2019-04-04T09:10:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T15:10:01","slug":"song-you-need-to-know-palehound-aaron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/song-you-need-to-know-palehound-aaron\/","title":{"rendered":"Song You Need to Know: Palehound, \u2018Aaron\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Palehound<\/a>\u2019s Ellen Kempner has spent the past four years building up one of the most distinct styles in indie rock. Her songs often present a low-key front, but there\u2019s a lot going on underneath her dreamy guitar parts and soft-edged vocals. Listen closely to \u201cCinnamon,\u201d<\/a> from 2015\u2019s Dry Food<\/em>, or \u201cTurning 21,\u201d<\/a> from 2017\u2019s A Place I\u2019ll Always Go<\/em> and you\u2019ll register vivid hues of desire and loss just under the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cAaron,\u201d from Palehound\u2019s just-announced album Black Friday<\/em> (out June 7th), is another understated stunner. The song starts with a promise: \u201cMy friend, if you want me to, I\u2019ll call you Aaron\/I can, I can, I can, I can, I can\u2026\u201d Kempner gets a lot of feeling into those last two syllables, pledging her devotion in a tone that\u2019s fierce and tender at the same time. The song keeps rephrasing that theme before finally bursting into bright melody and sunlit imagery in the chorus: \u201cAnd the water\u2019s warm, but it still stings your shins when you are wading in\/It\u2019s worth the swim.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emotions in \u201cAaron\u201d feel real because they are. \u201cAaron is a character that represents my partner, who is trans,\u201d Kempner explained in a press statement. \u201cIt\u2019s not specific to his experience, though\u2026It\u2019s about learning to be comfortable in our skins, whether that means changing our bodies or mindsets.\u201d What she means by the song is simple enough \u2014 I\u2019ll be there for you, whatever it takes<\/em> \u2014 but Kempner knows that\u2019s no reason not to say it, again and again.<\/p>\n