After the impressive success of their prior fun, '80s tinged single, "Hot Chocolate" synth-metalcore titans Young Medicine deliver another beautifully crafted single inspired by the horror realm of The Haunting of Bly Manor, "Cold Blooded" via FiXT.
Young Medicine has always been at the forefront of making waves in the synthwave and metalcore genre. Always staying consistent and unique with the changing and turbulent tides of the music industry, Young Medicine constantly sets the bar high when it comes to releasing well-crafted singles.
“The idea of telling a ghost story from the perspective of the deceased, in Bly Manor, or just in general, is such a unique angle… “Cold Blooded”, at its core, is a song about love lost, and we couldn’t think of any other songs that touched on that subject from beyond the grave, so we felt it would be an interesting perspective from which to write a song. ”
Something Young Medicine has done well with these last batch of singles is branch out atmospherically, each experience has given us something different to chew on, yet at the same time has given us the same values we come to expect from the Kansas City synth-metalcore titans. While Cold Blooded is meant to cohesively have moments that can stand on their own, bringing them together, you can sense a beautiful story of life: history-making events, love, loss, personal dilemmas, and even the fun aspects along the way.
Now the band is turning heads again with their new spine-chilling single, "Cold Blooded." Inspired by the Netflix horror series The Haunting Of Bly Manor, Young Medicine dips their toes lyrically and instrumentally into the horror realm and crafts something that beautifully stands out above the rest of their singles. A gorgeous slow-burner that gradually builds to an eerie opening that progresses to infectious synths, powerful drum fills, towering guitar energies, and a captivating chorus, Young Medicine has created one of their best singles to end the year.
Hey guys! Welcome back to INTO THE VOID. I know the last time we talked was about your last single, "Hot Chocolate," which was very different instrumentally and lyrically. What inspired the change in direction? Whereas"Hot Chocolate" was very free and fun, this feels dark physically and emotionally instrumentally.
Great to be back! “Hot Chocolate” was essentially written from the ground up as a “live song”, something to get the crowd moving, with very little downtime between upbeat sections, and something we could jump around and have fun with for the essential entirety of the track. As you mentioned, even lyrically there is a huge difference in that “Hot Chocolate” is intentionally cheesy vs the more narrative, dark approach in the latest single.
“Cold Blooded” wasn’t written to be a live song, (though there is a good chance it might be one soon) or even as a single, but more of a brooding, slow-burn about ghosts and heartbreak. Instrumentally, there wasn’t as much focus on delivering something hard-hitting right away, it is allowed to build naturally along with the lyrics.
I wanted to talk about the background and the meaning behind "Cold Blooded." Somewhat inspired by The Haunting of Bly Manor, it's interesting because conceptually, it's a romance story first, and a work of horror second, how we are constantly a victim to and trapped within our memories. That's a painful thing to move on from at times. It's reflected in many of the characters. What inspired you guys to approach this track from that angle concept-wise? Where was your mindset when you guys began to write this? How does this correlate to your new single?
The idea of telling a ghost story from the perspective of the deceased, in Bly Manor, or just in general, is such a unique angle… “Cold Blooded”, at its core, is a song about love lost, and we couldn’t think of any other songs that touched on that subject from beyond the grave, so we felt it would be an interesting perspective from which to write a song.
Approaching it from that perspective gives you more facets to touch on than a traditional song about heartbreak: reconciling with the living, being stuck beyond the grave, struggling with their own identity, etc.
How was this creative process different from your previous work?
Other than the lyrical inspiration, it wasn’t too different in the sense that we wanted each section of the song to be solid on its own and then the song to be memorable and cohesive as a whole.
I know with every single you guys release, there is an evolution that comes with that. What would you say has made you evolve in some way from this track?
Musically it isn’t too far off or evolved from what we have been releasing, but lyrically it is more of a plot-based story than our previous singles from this cycle. In our first album, Interlinked, there was a decent mix of songs with a vague narrative behind them, open to interpretation, and then a handful that were more directly inspired by already existing stories… “Cold Blooded” is a continuation of that.
What has this whole release of singles meant to you guys collectively? I know separately, they stand on their own and each means something different respectively, but what do you feel this release cycle has meant to you personally and artistically?
Honestly, it is hard to say… they are all so different. Technically, everything post-Interlinked is part of a new album cycle, but it doesn’t feel cohesive…yet.
We have been writing and recording to completion one single at a time really, so while we keep all the core YM elements throughout, heavy drums, hooky vocals, sparkly synths, down-tuned guitars, the songs do not truly feel connected until presented together. It is a bit sad in the sense that we all grew up loving albums, a set of songs that fit together perfectly when done well, and the industry is very single-focused these days; however, releasing single-to-single allows us to really flesh out each song individually and give it a chance to shine, with its own aesthetic, promotional material, merch, etc.
At the end of the day, all the new tracks and eventually the new album are something we want to represent the sound we’ve always shot for…just better than before. Taking the aesthetics we presented in Interlinked and perfecting them, while introducing new ones as well. There are a ton of interviews where bands really dig into “maturing” and wanting to move past their old material, which is fair when you feel stuck in a rut or in a genre. With the variation presented in Interlinked and having new singles debut both on Metalcore playlists and the largest Synthwave channels, we don’t have a set genre or sound too “mature” out of or into, so just growing as songwriters and musicians is the goal for the new cycle of songs.
How has touring been for you guys? I know you guys went on tour recently.
Touring is our absolute favorite, and honestly is kind of the end-goal… to be on the road, sharing what we’ve been making live. Trying to get stuff booked in a post-pandemic world is a bit rough, but we’ve been quite lucky landing a few runs with both our good friend, Essenger and with Dead Rabbitts, who are also great guys.
What's next from this point on with you guys?
More shows with bigger production! Also obviously working on a lot more music to round out this album cycle and beyond, including some fun collabs, covers, and maybe alternate versions of songs we’ve already released. Hopefully hitting some music videos over the winter as well.