La Dispute - 'Footsteps at the Pond'

It has been four years since we’ve had a full-length release from La Dispute, and this is shaping up to be well worth the wait; taking more of a darker and melodic tone in comparison to the urgency we normally find within their sound.

‘Footsteps at the Pond’ is the follow up to the atmospheric and spoken word sounds of ‘Rose Quartz/Fulton Street I’ which were the first releases from the upcoming album ‘Panorama’. Sounding more like the band we all know and love, ‘Footsteps at the Pond’ contains all of those elements of post-hardcore, with its break downs and drum fills, but when you strip the vocals away you are left with an instrumental that contains elements of indie beats and jazzy bass lines. It goes to show that La Dispute are in no way, a one-dimensional band. You only have to look back at their discography to see that, but it is telling that time and time again, they challenge themselves with each release in order to portray a different side to themselves.

There is also poetry beneath the lyrics; “for life and all its consequential, complicated scenes/they shake you out of sleep/scrape your knees beneath your feet/I think we bleed because we need to bleed” which pairs with the animated music video that was released alongside the single. It portrays a character walking through an underground reality whilst tethered to a rope. The character finds an isolated creature in a room and reaches out to it, guiding it back to the surface, coaxing it forward when it doesn’t feel like it should follow. This feels like the encouragement to find your demons and bring them to light, in order to turn them into something good.

There is a message within the art of La Dispute’s new concept, but only when the album is released on 22nd March, will we be able to see the bigger picture.

Words by Tyler Damara Kelly

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