
Imagine music that was a cross between Ethel Cain and Halsey, and you get Water Gun. Creating an ethereal mix of Cain’s moody poeticism with Halsey’s fierce self-expression, the Brooklyn-based indie band—consisting of lead vocalist Gaby Mitford, guitarist Ryan Wax, drummer Gabriel Seiler, bassist Whit Hemphill, and guitarist Ben Bogden– has quietly been releasing some hidden Spotify gems for a minute now. Their latest single, “Angel Dust,” will send you into a dreamlike trance that you’ll want to keep playing on repeat. This is the band’s third single to date.
The song conveys the hesitation of leaving a relationship that is no longer doing any good for the narrator. The title, “Angel Dust” --another name for cocaine– likens the dynamic of the relationship to that of drug addiction. The opening lines, “Pretty how you protect yourself, run away before the beauty is felt,” illustrate how the narrator’s partner frequently pulls away from the relationship as soon as it starts to feel too serious, protecting themselves from having to deal with any real relationship problems and running away from feeling the “beauty” of allowing themselves to get close to another person.
Unfortunately, the damage is already done, and when this partner does attempt to get close to the narrator, they only feel “cold.” Any attempt at reconciliation is often cut short as the narrator says, “Then you sold me out for your crowd,” implying that once the partner does the bare minimum required to keep the relationship afloat, they immediately abandon the narrator for other pursuits and to uphold an image of being unattached to their social circle. The main problem in this relationship seems to be an imbalance amongst the two parties, with the narrator mainly holding on while the partner remains indifferent.
In the second verse of the song, the title finally comes into play with the lyrics, “Breathe you in like angel dust, hold you there until my lungs burn out…thought that I could give you up somehow.” The narrator is explicitly calling out the toxic nature of this relationship and the way that they feel “burnt out” from the effort of holding on to their ambivalent partner. Despite the pain that comes with holding on to this relationship, the narrator still hesitates to leave because this toxicity has become familiar to them. The song ends on the second chorus, leaving it unclear as to whether the narrator will in fact leave this relationship behind or continue the cycle of neglect.
“Angel Dust” diverges from the band’s previous singles, “Heaven Sent” and “Mary Street” which were laced with the sound of 90’s grunge, instead adopting a 60’s surfer-rock feel akin to the early work of the Regrettes. However, they never stray from their shoegaze-leaning, alternative roots, opting for the instruments to take center stage and allowing the vocals to blend with the melody. In an interview with Afterglow Mitford described the band’s sound as “realistic” with the intention of “[being themselves], which is very authentic to the idea of being people who just really enjoy making music.” Whatever musical direction Water Gun decides to take, they are already showing that they have the strength to carry out an entire EP (and hopefully a full-length album) in the future.
Written by J.D. Valdepenas
Cover Art created by Hannah Schwimmer