“Hand In Fan” is the latest track by King In Yellow, an outstanding Kingston, New York-based band. It’s their fifth standalone single, arriving as an adequate continuation of “Desire Paths,” “Your Religion,” “Modern Dance,” and “The Chelsea, At Night,” four marvelous compositions you should immediately check out. For those who missed our previous writings about this tremendous band, King In Yellow explores several genres to illustrate rich and luxurious sonic imagery. You may notice all the vital elements borrowed from post-punk, punk rock, goth rock, alternative, indie, and many others along the way. In this particular track, they cleverly levitate between all the significant eras for post-punk music. From the late seventies and mid-eighties to late nineties, early noughties, and contemporary music, King In Yellow combines every significant sonic ingredient with such precision and finesse. They also threw bits and pieces of eighties new wave, nineties alternative, and indie rock to spice things up. These experimentations with many different elements suit them well, as “Hand In Fan” showcases all their abilities as songwriters, composers, and musicians. Therefore, you’ll solely enjoy this post-punk gem even if you’re stumbling upon this longevous genre for the first time.
King In Yellow always thinks about shaping the calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal ambiance that immediately grabs you by the hand and leads you through the song from scratch to finish. That’s the case with this track, as the band spent so much time and effort on everything. “Hand In Fan” has a cleverly assembled song structure, adorned by intricate structure, brilliant ideas, and excellent orchestrations. The guitars shine in the mix, providing an adequate backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll hear how the interplay decorates each segment with many beautiful arpeggiated and regular chord progressions, melodies, harmonies, and themes. The generous servings of reverb effect give that recognizable post-punk, shoegaze, and dream pop vibes while simultaneously contributing to the melancholic and cathartic qualities of the song. These sonic maneuvers immediately draw you in and refuse to let go until the song ends. In the meantime, the vocals command attention and guide your listening apparatus through each segment while giving more power and depth. The vocal harmonies seamlessly glide over all the melodies, harmonies, and chord progressions with ease, making this song such a pleasant listening experience.
You’ll also hear how warm and powerful low-ends lurk beneath all those luxurious guitar layers, contributing to the heaviness, depth, and clarity of this track. Besides providing more power to “Hand In Fan,” these basslines bind all the instrumentations with drums. The drumming on this composition is exceptional, with the comprehensive collection of beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeping everything in line while dictating groove and pace. The rhythm section plays an equally significant role like the vocals and guitars, and each band member contributes to the best possible performance. Therefore, “Hand In Fan” is a perfectly written, composed, and performed post-punk song worth spinning repeatedly. It’s a memorable sonic experience that remains stuck in your head long after the track ends. Like their previous songs, “Hand In Fan” also positions King In Yellow on the very top of the contemporary post-punk scene, so you should check it out immediately. The song is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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