Singled Out: Nature Loves Courage's Dismantle

08-09-2023

Single art

Nature Loves Courage recently released their new single "Dismantle." To celebrate we asked McKenna Rowe to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

Dismantle is one of my favorite songs we've done to date, because it has a complex arrangement while also being fun, danceable and lyrically relatable. It has a lot of interesting sonic elements that come together to make a good pop song. I'd almost describe it as an interesting mix of pop, electronic, nu-disco with a dash of prog rock.

Musically, the song started out as a "seed of an idea" about a year ago. It was originally meant to be an instrumental. I tend to write from a groove/atmosphere standpoint first and as I listen to the palette being laid down I see what kind of melodies and words start coming out of my mouth (literally in the moment). There's a strong vibe I'll get from one or two primary sounds I discover/juxtapose. In this case, it was the mysterious opening loop paired with the tensile, metallic synth that you can hear on the intro. To me, it hints at something wondrous or intense about to unfold. I revisited this basic idea early this year again, and started framing things within the structure of a pop song with vocals. For the verses, there are several beats I combined that sound like a march, and on the choruses, I came up with a synth drum pattern that sounds like artillery fire. These are elements which helped lead me down the path of theming the lyrics around a battle.

Lyrically, Dismantle is about how in a romantic partnership there can be these "battles", essentially... debates you can have with your partner. In a healthy, positive relationship, they can be opportunities to check in and see how well you know each other. There will be times when your partner calls you out on your b.s. and forces you to see yourself more clearly. I know it happens to me all the time in my marriage. I'm a very hearty debater, I send in my "battalions" of reasoning around my point of view, but then my husband sends in his "legions", his retaliation. He dismantles these false and usually rather negative notions I have about myself. If only we could just see and love ourselves in the way that others do.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the band here