49 Burning Condors is such a powerhouse of a band with so many stories to tell. The stories they capture are ones of, in their words, “malefic witches, lustful gods, and unholy ghosts bound to the Swamp, slithering with its snakes, home and grave to human and beast alike.” This band uses creative and poetic storytelling and passionate musicianship to create tracks that bring these fables to life. Their latest single ‘Noonday’ is just one of the many examples of the amazing things they can do with their music and lyricism.
The somber acoustic guitar in ‘Noonday’ serves as the perfect building block to usher in the track, and it pulls out the hit that the buzzy and deep bass and full alto vocals deliver. The best part of this track may just be the emotion and delivery throughout each aspect. The vocals have so much range and control. The bass has a natural slap to its playing and serves as such a great hook. The guitar is catchy, and it gives some great bright contrast throughout a piece that uses mainly darker tones. This darkness in sound makes the bright violin melody truly stand out. Noonday is such an amazing track, and it’s an entire experience from start to finish.
‘Noonday’ takes on a double meaning in such a crafty way. It describes a nightmare that lead vocalist Kimber Dulin had. This nightmare pictured red walls, a taunting young girl, and a silenced mouth filled with mud. The story of her nightmare is creatively weaved into lyricism that the band sums up as being about, “Women, especially, that suffered under the hand of what we now understand as depression were considered to have been possessed by spirits.” These women were burned at the stake. The story of Noonday was inspired by the works of writer Harlan Ellison, some of the lyrics giving a subtle nod to his short story ‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.’
49 Burning Condors is a Philadelphia-based Gothic Witch Rock band consisting of lead vocalist and lyricist Kimber Dulin, guitarist and pianist Chris Tremoglie, violinist Andriana Markano, bassist Zach Rinck and drummer Kat Wilson. This band captures a truly original sound with its influential roots in folk, jazz, metal, country and musical theatre. They dash in a bit of experimentation into their discography, and there’s so much to explore throughout. 49 Burning Condors uses their music to tell mythological tales of women in a way that adds so much emotion. ‘Noonday’ is currently available on your streaming platform of choice, and it’s definitely worth more than a few listens.
Written by Sage Plapp
