We’ve all had those creeping thoughts race while driving from city to city at night staring out at the rows of lights flashing by; Where am I going? What just happened? Did it really mean anything?
Led by the talented songwriter Matthew Smith, Hodera has always worn its heart on its sleeve across two previous releases, but it’s their forthcoming First Things First LP that finds the indie-rock and Americana blenders elevating their themes of love and loss with experiences taken from life spent on extensive tours. The album, the band’s first for Take This To Heart Records (pre-order), finds Smith settling in with Doug Gallo (guitars), Alek Mager (bass) and Scott Tilley (drums) to bring rich, cathartic rock and acoustic soundscapes to meet otherwise heavy subject matter.
Impose Magazine is happy to host the premiere of First Things First‘s latest single, “Baltimore,” today. On the track, Smith examines an intense but ultimately ephemeral encounter that become and more and more difficult to reconcile as you get older. The acoustic-led arrangement brings you right into his world and never lets up as Hodera’s greatest strengths, storytelling and songcraft, engage throughout.
“I wrote this song on a night drive from Baltimore to Philadelphia,” Smith shares. “My bandmates were up front driving the van and I was sitting in the way back, feelin’ sort of depressed. It was the middle of January and there was a lot of black ice on the road. Using black ice as a metaphor was the inspiration for the song. I didn’t have a guitar on me so I wrote the song entirely in my head. It was the only time I’ve ever written a full song without an instrument.”
Stream Hodera’s “Baltimore” below and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Spotify for more.
