"Red & Blue" is Kind Hearted Strangers' Siren Song for 2020
/In this current social and political moment, behind the amplified and passionate declarations uttered during conversations between friends, family and acquaintances, most people are quietly wondering the same things: How did we get here? Where did this constant sense of division and conflict arise from? How do we move forward, maintain empathy and connection, and overcome this?
On their new single “Red & Blue”, the Boulder folk-rock band Kind Hearted Strangers (singer/guitarist Marc Townes, guitarist Kevin Hinder, bassist Marshall Carlson, and drummer Brian Ireland) have set out to address this. Townes emphasizes that they aren't here to tell people what to do or who to vote for; all they want is for people to try to find ways to come together and be kind to each other despite their differences in belief.
“You have these very polarizing sides of the conversation, and all the news takes each of those ends of the spectrum and runs with them, but the vast majority of us all feel the same way,” frontman Marc Townes says. “We’re all good people, we all know what’s right, and we all have the best intentions. It’s insane that the people who have become the leaders right now got there— they don’t reflect us.”
The song’s lyrical, elastic verses describing political disillusionment and confusion build into a shimmering pre-chorus where Townes finds himself “Waiting for the signal/Waiting for the go,” leading to a proclamation of the song’s title over a percussive, windows-down hook that hits like a fireworks show.
Townes started writing the song during the 2016 election when he was standing around the TV with friends, baffled by what he was witnessing. Describing the moment as feeling like “the Alamo was being taken,” the only thing he felt like he could do was turn to music. It took until 2020, when political and social division heightened and COVID-19 brought the world to a screeching halt, when “Red and Blue” felt immediate enough to release.
He talks about how the song was inspired by feeling disillusioned by the polarization and antagonization that continues to swell, making it harder to find kindness and peace amongst others. This is who “Red & Blue” is for— the people who feel left in the dust by the ever increasing, unfiltered noise.
“The people at the farthest end of the spectrum are the ones with the loudest voices, and we need to end that,” Townes says. The people that are inherently good aren’t as loud, and the people that have these loud, polarizing views are dictating everything, and that’s not right.”
Kind Hearted Strangers has never been a straightforwardly political band, and Townes emphasizes that they still aren’t. During our conversation, he joked that the rest of the band’s upcoming LP East // West is just love songs, and while that’s only partially true, he also described songs like “The Egoist” (off the upcoming LP) which was written about conspiracy theories.
“I will always have to write things about relationships. The experiences that you have with other people are all important, and often far more immediate than something you’d watch on the news or experience politically,” he says.
“Red and Blue” kicks off the release of East // West, due out in early January, with a big, sparkling firework show. The album was recorded with Todd Divel at Silo Sound Studios in Denver, a studio home to locals like The Velveteers, and also a stop for national touring acts like Cage The Elephant, the late Neal Casal, and Todd Snider.
Townes describes the album and its songs as all embodying different physical places, all circling back to the band’s formation at an open mic night in Colorado.
“Red & Blue” is Kind Hearted Strangers’ siren song— a plea for kindness, empathy, and reason in a time where people are more divided and antagonistic than any other time in recent memory.
“I really hope this song puts good into the world,” Townes says. “You have a voice. [Red & Blue] is asking you to use this voice. Everything you do in life makes a difference, and everyone you interact with is important. Recognize that and be good to people. Kindness is everything.”
You can stream “Red & Blue” on Bandcamp and on Spotify, and you can keep up with Kind Hearted Strangers on their website.
All photos per those credited. All videos and embedded tracks per the artists featured and those credited. This feature was edited for brevity and clarity by BolderBeat.