Equal Vision Records and queer Boston-based indie-pop quartet shallow pools are excited to present its brand new single titled “IHYK.” Sounding like it was plucked straight out of the 2000s and featuring a big, bursting chorus, “IHYK” is a charming love letter to our support systems. “Whether we’re feeling anxious, lonely or depressed, we always know they’ll be there for us,” the band says of the song. “‘IHYK’ is our way of showing how much we appreciate the love and support of those close to us.” Watch the video for “IHYK” on YouTube HERE.
“IHYK” follows “Now Or Never” and “Say What You Want,” two tracks co-written with LGBTQ+ trailblazer and PVRIS frontwoman Lynn Gunn. A powerful assertion of identity, “Say What You Want” is underpinned by the serious message at its heart. “I feel like we always want to make some kind of statement,” says shallow pools vocalist Glynnis Brennan, “and we wanted to write something that basically said ‘Fuck the haters’. As members of the LGBT community, this song just feels really important to us.” Watch the music video for “Say What You Want” on YouTube HERE.
Some five years of playing together, the members of shallow pools — drummer Ali Ajemian, vocalist Glynnis Brennan, guitarist Jess Gromada and bassist Haley Senft — met in school around a decade ago and have finally, and confidently, hit their sound. Slick and sophisticated, it’s a far cry from those early days, but the band acknowledge how important those days were in terms of finally getting to where they are now.
“Back then, we were just playing what we were listening to, but as we got older everything kind of changed,” the band says. “We spent a lot of time experimenting with genres and writing songs that we didn’t necessarily like playing live. Now, we play songs that we like writing, playing and listening to.”
Much of that has to do with the close relationship between the four of them. Not only are they close friends who share a house but they all also share similar political views. Such is their interest in activism, in fact, that they feel shallow pools is about much more than just the music they make. It’s a vehicle for sharing their views and message, and a way for them to offer people what they felt they needed and wanted from bands when they were younger. As such, both the idea of representation and turning something negative into something positive have very much become the band’s purpose and reason for existing, not least then when LGBTQ+ people still face prejudice on a daily level.
“The most important thing to me is making people feel safe and comfortable,” says Brennan. “I know that’s something that I looked for when I was younger. Just being able to have songs like these, that’s just like ‘Be yourself, who cares what anybody says?’, is something that a lot of people need to hear, especially these days with all the political nonsense happening in America.”
Stay tuned for more information on the band’s forthcoming album on Equal Vision Records to be announced soon.