From Utah to Los Angeles, the Alt-Rock and desert-core Singer/Songwriter Yucky Bangs releases her emotional and romantic single titled, "Kiss It."
Forming her solo desert-core project in Utah, Shelly Rose (Yucky Bangs) found the inspiration to venture on her own path after playing in the Alt-Pop band Peach Dream. After creating solo pieces since 2018, it was time for Yucky Bangs to continue this venture indefinitely.
With her latest hit "Kiss It," Yucky Bangs describes heart-aching scenes where her mental health isn't at its strongest, and how she yearns for someone to kiss it all away. Through spacey and drifting Alt-Rock instrumentals, the track takes a special place in our hearts as one of the more gripping ballads we've heard to date.
"Kiss It" softly opens with electric guitar strumming and haunting pads. While Yucky Bangs makes her clear vocal appearance, she begins describing those gut-wrenching scenes of loneliness and lost love. Around the 40-second mark, the entire instrumental sets in and delivers a sublime atmosphere that allows daydreaming to swiftly occur.
We can't help but feel her Utah roots shining through this piece, as the instrumentation drifts us through picturesque deserts with grace and poise. As Yucky Bangs continues to serenade us with soul, her warm vocals perfectly complement the pleasant instrumentals and add to the swaying atmosphere.
Ending the song off with grace and passion, Yucky Bangs brings immense heart within her single "Kiss It" and allows listeners to lose themselves in the drifting instrumentals.
We adore the deep and heartfelt lyrical content within your stunning single, "Kiss It." What pushed you to release mental strife through sincere lyricism on a piece of music?
What has always drawn me to music is its ability to act as a vessel for our innermost, authentic feelings. Oftentimes my songs are about things I’m not sure I could say outright to the people I’m meant to say them to, but with music, those thoughts and feelings feel more organic and easier to process.
Concerning your lively instrumentals within "Kiss It," do you usually go for this desert-core aesthetic within your sonics? Could you enlighten us on how you go about this within your creative process?
As far as production goes, I like to allow the song to guide me, in a way. Of course, I’m interested in incorporating lots of different influences, most of them being pop, imagery, or feelings I want to aurally capture, but at the end of the day production is a production, like an art piece or a film. You find what’s working and your table what’s not, and of course at some point, you tell yourself that the work is finished when it needs to be.
How has playing in Peach Dream prepared you to take your solo venture into the industry? Would you say that your previous group influenced your sound in any way?
Yucky Bangs started out while I was still playing in Peach Dream, and a lot of songs that didn’t make it into the Peach Dream repertoire ended up becoming Yucky Bangs songs. Kiss It is actually one of those, along with a couple of others on my EP Lancelot Drive. I played my first live show through Peach Dream! Everything I know about live music and production I learned from my experience in that band.
You've mentioned that your debut full-length album is set to release later this year. Could you give us any hints as to what we should anticipate from your sound and concept?
I’m very excited for everyone to hear the full-length. These are songs I’ve sat on for months and sometimes even years. Most of them are about heartache and loneliness, but overall I wanted the songs to tell a story about the ever-changing heart, and how we’re never the same person in the same place. I wanted the album to strike a balance between meditative and joyous, existing in many different moods at once. Things are never so black and white, you know? That’s what I hoped to capture with this project.
What has been keeping you inspired this year? I think maybe an easier question is what’s been keeping me sane this year. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed with the goings-on of the world, especially this year, but I’ve found taking the time to be truly alone, in complete silence with no other distraction has been helpful in keeping in touch with my creativity. It’s so easy to let it get lost, and I believe sometimes you should let it! But going on hikes, drives, whatever it maybe helps me recalibrate and reset my mind, and remember there’s a great big world out there to inspire new work!