Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends – The Hag

What comes to mind when someone mentions indie rock music? Beautiful vocal harmonies, lush chord progressions, warm-sounding basslines, and groovy drum beats? Of course, those are the foundations of all good indie songs, but the main player in the game is the vocal performance. Without it, none of those songs would sound soulful, catchy, and memorable. Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends has always been a singer-songwriter who thinks through every detail while writing, composing, arranging, and producing songs, and also experiments with many complementary styles to elevate his music to an entirely new level. That’s the case with “The Hag,” his latest single released today via all streaming platforms. This composition not only emphasizes what Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends does best, and that’s crafting memorable compositions that tackle all the senses, but also brings more of that natural songwriting evolution of an artist upfront. Although indie rock shines through every possible vocal, sonic, and rhyhtmic maneuver, as the artist incorporated all the fundamental elements of the genre in this song, “The Hag” also carries some of the finest properties borrowed from psychedelic rock, folk rock, funk, shoegaze, and many other similar styles. This blend is so thoughtfully infused into the song’s core, making it lush, complex, yet captivating and easy listening.

The lyrics have been penned by Swedish writer, poet, and composer Carl Jonas Love Almqvist in 1834, and Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends translated and interpreted from Swedish to the English language. “The Hag” deals with the woman who was wrongly accused of witchery and then burned at the stake. And the song arrives just at the right time, mainly because it could act as a feminist anthem. In times where patriarchy reigns supreme and blames everything on the women over regular and social media, “The Hag” explains how wrong accusations do only harm and nothing else. In times like these, we should focus more on matriarchy and the position of women in modern society, because things could be improved by a mile. Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends uses his calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal tone to deliver those thoughtfully translated and interpreted lyrics. He lets’s words to take their course while his seamless balance between low, mid, and high notes creates a marvelous melody that perfectly pairs the soundscapes. The additional vocal layers and back vocals not only give more depth but also contribute complexity to an already intricate song structure. The emotion, passion, soul, sincerity, timbre, and power in his voice really make this composition immensely powerful.

And the instrumentations included in “The Hag” go beyond this world. The sheer complexity of the orchestrations involved will force you to spin this composition over and over again. Of course, the lush guitar works are the first you’ll notice, as the funky chord progressions, jangly sonic maneuvers, leads, and powerful riffs lurk around. Paired with colossal sounds of organ and keys, which in this case offer ambient pads, harmonies, melodies, themes, and other virtuosities, they together craft a memorable sonic backdrop where the vocals sit perfectly. These layers are so perfectly paired together that you may feel like they’ve been part of some colossal structure. Beneath all these lush guitar and synth works, the warm-sounding, vividly hearable, intricate basslines offer more funky vibes while contributing more than necessary warmth, depth, clarity, and heaviness. Their presence perfectly blends the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns, keeping everything groovy and tight from scratch to finish. And the drumming, based upon tastefully assembled, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics, keeps everything in line while dictating groove and pace. It complements each bassline, chord progression, and synth line with its groovy rhythmic patterns.

Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends is, without any doubt, one of the most creative and versatile singer-songwriters you’ll stumble upon in the modern music scene. “The Hag” arrives as a timeless classic, decorated with some of the finest vocal, sonic, and rhyhtmic maneuvers, but with quality that meets all the trends in contemporary music production. If you love your indie rock music as soulful, emotive, passionate, groovy, and funky as “The Hag” is, then you should immediately place this gem on your music radar. Do not miss it!