Kitchen Dwellers slowed down the tempo and stepped up their music video game for their latest single, “The Crow and The Raven (III)”, which will appear on the Bozeman, MT-based string band’s forthcoming album, Seven Devils.
Inspired by Dante Alighieri‘s journey through the Nine Circles of Hell and The Divine Comedy, the album explores themes related to morality and human nature, with certain songs corresponding to one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth.
“The Crow and The Raven (III)” follows previous singles “Seven Devils (Limbo)” and “Pendulum (V)”, and like them, the song strikes a serious tone, but this one has a slower tempo and gentle backing vocals by Lindsay Lou. The song also features John Mailander on fiddle, Kaitlin Raitts on cello, and Patrick Monnius on viola, with string arrangements by Glenn Brown.
“I wrote ‘The Crow and The Raven’ in the spring of 2018 after undergoing the end of a relationship,” said Shawn Swain. “A lot of things came to mind in the process, but the thing I most commonly thought about was how sometimes a person’s intent may be misleading. You may not actually know who they are. It doesn’t mean they’re a bad person, but sometimes people don’t feel comfortable enough in themselves to show you who they really are. Sometimes those subtleties are hard to make out.
“The comparison came forth in deciphering a crow from a raven and how there are only a few differences that can only be made out at a close distance. The metaphor inspired the song. I returned to the piece in 2022 and worked on it with my friend, Elliott Blaufuss who helped me to see the story from the audience’s point of view better. I’m extremely proud of the way this came together… it’s got a massive feeling that’s grown so much from the sound of the little camp guitar it was written on.”
The new single arrives with a truly impressive cinematic music video that is more of a short film directed by Kayla Arend.
“I am really proud of this one,” said Arend. “It is a beautifully heartbreaking representation of Old West meeting New West, in this new world of 2024. This clash of cultures has been accelerated and exacerbated by the pandemic and the struggle of what it means to be an American today. Cowboys are purely an American thing, but what does it mean when our definition of the West is changing?”
Arend studied film, photography, and entomology at Montana State University, where Kitchen Dwellers first formed, and received her master’s degree in writing-directing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a graduate thesis film, Leaving Yellowstone, executive produced by Spike Lee. The film won several awards for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography.
Check out the video for “The Crow and The Raven (III)” below or stream the song on your preferred platform. Seven Devils is due out March 1st via No Coincidence Records. Pre-save/pre-order the album here. Kitchen Dwellers are currently on the road amid their L.F.G. Tour. Click below for a full list of upcoming shows, and visit the band’s website for ticketing details.
Kitchen Dwellers – “The Crow and The Raven (III)”