Unlocked: Download “Got The Knife” from Young Statues’ new The Flatlands are Your Friend

Young Statues’ 2011 self-titled debut album wasn’t exactly unintentional, but it was somewhat unplanned.

The South-Jersey based indie rock band was born from the collection of songs written by frontman Carmen Cirignano on a prolonged trip to Athens, Georgia. He had just left another band behind and was encouraged by people there and then upon returning home to turn what he thought would be solo material into a new project.

That collection of catchy, intricate indie pop tunes won over fans for a reason.

It’s not that the band’s sophomore full-length, The Flatlands Are Your Friend, will not win over the same fans, but it will not be for the same reason. Flatlands – released tomorrow via Run For Cover Records –finds Young Statues more mature, somber and deliberate in the band’s approach to music making.

A prime example of this is the haunting, epic “Got The Knife” which encapsulates the simple and straightforward rock album the band set out to make this time around. Tracked live and mixed to tape, this slowly building track ascends on its incline aided only by a few flourishes of keyboard and the band’s raw energy.

“I’ve given up my spine, friend of mine. I’ve got time,” Cirignano repeatedly sings before the song’s big resolve, articulating an observation about relationships he’s seen and also experienced himself.

“I feel like so many relationships hang very much by a very, very thin thread at all times,” Cirignano says during an interview with The Key. “Really, a lot of times it comes down to which person is willing to compromise their feelings to keep it together. [“Got The Knife”] is kind of written from a perspective of the person who is  inflicting the pain and the problems … there is a person that is usually pushing the buttons, and they know where they stand and what they can get away with.”

Flatlands goes on to talk about much more real-life, relatable subject matter, with music to reflect the deepest lows, highest highs and most emotional moments we all experience.

It’s the kind of record you’ll never put on unintentionally.

Download “Got The Knife” above, courtesy of Run For Cover. Check back throughout the week as we spotlight The Flatlands Are Your Friend on Unlocked, The Key’s regular spotlight on new and significant releases by Philadelphia area artists. Tomorrow we’ll post a review of the album, Wednesday we’ll debut an in-studio documentary, Thursday we’ll have a feature interview and Friday we’ll have a random post.