California musician Chelsea Wolfe has unveiled "The Culling," a six-minute doom epic and the final single from her upcoming album, Hiss Spun, due out September 22nd via Sargent House. As with the record's previously-shared tracks – the tempestuous "16 Psyche," featuring Queens of the Stone Age's Troy Van Leeuwen, "Vex," a cataclysmic collaboration with Sumac mastermind Aaron Turner, and the insidiously catchy "Offering" – "The Culling" derives its intensity from urgent, churning dynamics. After drawing the listener in with an ornate, soft-spoken intro, Wolfe sends her song tumbling into the abyss, by way of a dissonant, earsplitting coda. Listen now.
"I'm at odds with myself, exploring different characters, comparing war stories: desperation, withdrawal, clarity, disgust, grief," Wolfe says of "The Culling," going on to detail its themes of vulnerability and perseverance: "There is a sense [in the song] of feeling like a vulnerable mess, but giving into that, and turning it into some kind of beautiful decadence — becoming stronger through accepting the mess of yourself, accepting that you're this feral creature full of instincts, cycles, rage and love."
The words recited during the song's coda are metaphorically dense, as well. According to the singer-guitarist, "Flux" represents movement and flow, "Hiss" represents the "positive life force," "Welt" represents the brutality of life, and "Groan" represents sensuality and death. Now you know!
