LOS ANGELES, CA- There are songs that demand careful unpacking, and then there are songs where the first reaction pretty much says everything that needs to be said: this thing is a banger.
The Haunt have delivered another one with “Seasonal Depression,” the latest single from sibling duo Anastasia Grace Haunt and Maxamillion “Max” Haunt and another preview of their forthcoming sophomore album, Ghost, due October 30 via Nettwerk.
The title suggests something cyclical, the kind of darkness that arrives with the changing seasons and eventually gives way to something brighter. But “Seasonal Depression” almost immediately pulls that idea apart. Anastasia opens by acknowledging that she once had a convenient name for what she was feeling. The problem is that the seasons keep changing and the feeling doesn’t.
From there, the song turns that depression into something almost other-worldly. It isn’t simply sadness or an occasional low point. It’s a presence. Something kinda lurking in the shadows, taking control and following its narrator wherever she goes.
That imagery feels particularly appropriate for a song appearing on an album called Ghost. Throughout “Seasonal Depression,” there are references to shadows, possession and the sensation of being relentlessly followed. Even the physical descriptions are severe, with the emotional pain manifesting as something that feels capable of breaking bones. Depression isn’t presented as an abstract concept here. It has weight, form and seemingly nowhere else to be.
I’m scared of my shadow
I suffer all alone
I feel it breaking all my bones
And it follows me wherever I go
The most affecting part of the song may be the resignation underneath all of it. As “Seasonal Depression” progresses, the question of whether anyone else understands what is happening gradually gives way to anger and exhaustion. By the time Anastasia reaches the song’s most confrontational passage, the struggle feels less like something she is trying to defeat than something she has grown tired of fighting.
That’s some pretty bleak territory.
Suffering all alone
I wonder if they fucking know
I gave up fighting years ago
It’s taking over
And yet, “Seasonal Depression” absolutely rips.
That’s the contradiction that makes the track work so well for me. Max builds the song around driving guitars and a muscular alt-rock foundation, while Anastasia attacks the vocal with enough force to turn all of that frustration, isolation and exhaustion into something cathartic. The subject matter may be dark, but the record itself moves. The chorus is huge, the guitars hit hard and Anastasia’s voice gives the song the kind of urgency that practically demands to be played loud.
It’s another example of something The Haunt have become particularly good at: making darkness feel exhilarating.
The accompanying music video extends that aesthetic in a different direction. I love the fall colors that dominate the visuals. They’re warm, rich and unmistakably seasonal, which makes for an interesting contrast with a song whose entire premise is that the narrator’s depression has ceased to have a season at all.
And aesthetically, Anastasia is particularly striking here with her dyed red hair set against those autumnal colors. The red isn’t a new development. She switches her do up pretty regularly between albums/projects it seems. But after being so accustomed to seeing her as a platinum blonde, the look still catches my eye, and the color palette of this particular video makes it especially effective. It doesn’t need to symbolize anything deeper than that. Visually, it just works.
More importantly, so does the song. And ff this single is representative of the album’s heavier and darker direction, October 30 can’t come quickly enough.
Before then, The Haunt will take these songs on the road for The Ghost Tour, with dates stretching across the fall. The tour is scheduled to begin September 18 in Orlando before making its way around the country, including California dates later in the run.
And if they’re coming through your city, they’re worth the ticket.
I’ve seen The Haunt live, and they’re a fantastic live band. There’s an energy to their music that translates especially well to a room full of people, and a song like “Seasonal Depression” feels practically engineered for that environment. Those guitars, that chorus and Anastasia letting the vocal rip should hit even harder from a stage.
If The Ghost Tour set is going to be filled with songs like this, the whole night should be one hell of a banger.
Ghost arrives October 30 via Nettwerk.
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