I've always adored music that's on the border between menacing and epic. The combination of good and evil sounds always stir me at my musical core, and on a larger scale my own morality. So learning that Cult of Youth's new track is named “Man and Man's Ruin,” felt particularly fitting upon first listens.
The beginning of “Man and Man's Ruin” is shrouded in some Spanish tango, as you spin and move in a dreamy stir. Vocals whisper and hush, like a demon in a hidden corner as you continue to bend and twist. Sean Ragon builds the song masterfully, adding more hits of percussion that effortlessly blend into his strumming. Eventually strings, faint guitar lines, horns, and angelic wisps create what sounds like clouds breaking through a dense storm and releasing gorgeous rays of light. “Man and Man's Ruin” then hits a cascading climax in which Ragon rambles of “the nature of man.” It's endearing to know that Cult Of Youth's new record Love Will Prevail is about finding peace in a crazed and disillusioned world. “Man and Man's Ruin” thus sounds like Ragon fighting his way towards sanity and against the villainous powers of man.
Stream “Man and Man's Ruin” below. Love Will Prevail is out September 4 via Sacred Bones.
