Following the success of their debut single – ‘Safeword’ – in September, The Bedside Morale returns to entrap listeners again with their newest creation, ‘Bitter Things’.
Their latest single, produced and mixed by the talented Josh Gallop at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, dives into intimate themes of isolation, deception and habits fuelled by feelings of insecurity. Through captivating choruses, truncated drums and introspective vocals, the track acts as a deep, expositional exploration of a character– structured through a call-and-response format. Touching on the lyrical content and structure of the track, the band explains “This was the first time we’ve done any real character work in a song. That’s not to say there’s no real-world grounding for this person but this man is more of a villain. He uses negativity as a way of manipulation, at some point in his life found that self-pity got him what he wanted, and he’ll sink to the absolute depths just to use someone for his own personal gain. So, this one’s for that guy. Or, in truth, the deeply insecure, messy reality of that man. We all see you and we all see what you’re doing.”
Uncovering the creative process behind the track, the band reveals: “We’ve been really keen to try a call-and-response song, calling out with a hooky riff a la The Police or REM, and responding with a sultry and low-key verse section. The chorus came very naturally, and Tim’s vocal line is gorgeous. The outro section, which we created almost in the style of a live orchestra swelling to a crescendo, is magic and one of our favourite things we’ve written as a band.
