Pushing the Envelope x Cousin Betty
Masters of the drip feed, Cousin Betty are back with yet another riff-driven rock attack. Envelope is another single from an album, delayed like everything else post-pandemic and due out early in 2023.
It would be hard not to be impressed by Cousin Betty’s consistency in delivering short, sharp infectious gems with intelligent lyrics.
Lead singer Matt Downey (who insists of being referred to as anything but a singer for reasons unclear) explains that the song is about societal progress and the time it takes to effect lasting change.
“Being asked to reflect on these musings feels odd” says Downey, “I’d like to hope that stuff I write is all self evident”
But with lyrics like “there’s never been a stonewalling conquest that wasn’t first kicked around in a pub test” aren’t so much vague as…well maybe just a little too wordy.
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying but if I’m riffing I just like to experiment with percussion as much as message” Downey explains, “I don’t know who our audience is, but they wouldn’t need to understand what a Stonewall[ing] (sic) conquest was to enjoy the song anyway”.
I ask him to clarify if there’s a message, or a message is important, or if he just delights in words like ‘a percussionist’?
“Of course there’s a message, It’s not f*cking Hound Dog (Elvis’ 50s Hit)… it’s a song about the evolution of ideas and broad equalities and the recognition that these…moments of progress almost always take lots of time”
I barely start with my next question before he interjects “…and blood, sometimes blood”
I raised the possibility of it being his/their attempt at a Woke anthem
“F*ck no!” he quipped with a chortle, recovering to further clarify, “Woke is what happens when you try and cut out the middleman…” he mumbles something about getting in trouble for using the term middleman “…evolution is just that; evolution…sh*t takes time and that’s not always such a bad thing”
I ask if Cousin Betty are pushing an Envelope of their own?
“No more or any harder than any other group…hits and world domination, right?”
Cousin Betty’s Latest Single Envelope out thru Barney Collins 8 October, 2022