Song Of The Day: Hessdalen Light — “Devil’s Cigar”

Jam Along With Hessdalen Light On One Of Its Tracks From The Latest EP, False Dichotomy. A Hypnotic Instrumental, You’ll Never Quite Want It To End.

Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.

Hessdalen Light — “Devil’s Cigar”
RIYL: Songs for contemplation.
What else you need to know: The three handsome dudes that make up Hessdalen Light are guitarist Tanner Thornton, bassist Tony Guzman and drummer Zephaniah Stake. This prog rock trio dropped False Dichotomy earlier this spring, a five-track EP of complex instrumentation that is sure to strike a chord with you. This is the first collection of songs released since 2018’s Gravity.

Today’s featured False Dichotomy song is “Devils Cigar,” which comes with a video of a play through by the band. The progressive riffs and beat changes already tickle your brain upon listening, but to see it in action in the comfort of their own home, that’s a whole ‘nother hypnotic experience.

It’s thoughtful, complex and emotional. The four-and-a-half minutes is a journey and a half with the guitar, bass and drums weaving in and out of each other. Every instrument sort of does it’s own thing, yet come together in a very seamless and beautiful way. Would it be dumb to compare this to some of the math rock-y songs found on the Death Note soundtrack? That’s just what kind of frame of reference this writer has for this subgenre.

It’s upbeat but still has an intensity behind it. One minute it feels hopeful and happy, the next, sort of somber in a cathartic way. It a choose your own adventure song of sorts — a lovely thing about music with no lyrics.

Turn Hessdalen Light on the next time you need a peppy start to your day, a good cry or to think some things through.

With two EP’s under the band’s belt, we’re crossing our fingers for a full-length album soon.