San Fran indie artist Harlow’s Monkeys gives in to ‘Pleasure’

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Harlow’s Monkeys, the project of San Francisco based singer-songwriter Tommy P., who uses his eclectic style to reel off relatable stories tinged with humour and poignancy. Part of that technique no doubt comes from the Californian’s broad taste in music, as he cites the likes of Bright Eyes, The Tallest Man on Earth, Wilco, Neutral Milk Hotel and Bob Dylan as influences. As such, Tommy P.‘s original songs pull the listener into an intimate world that feels more like chatting with a friend of a drink rather than bopping mindlessly along to your stereo.

This is best demonstrated in the artist’s new single ‘Pleasure’ delves into the woes of seeking hedonism above all else in an attempt to fill some kind of unnameable void in one’s life. This hallow goal can be heard in the passivity of Tommy P.‘s voice in the opening verse, which is a sharp and isolated production of spiky synths. However, it’s doesn’t take too long for that suppressed emotion to break through. The sparse instrumentation gives way to a swaying indie-rock number rooted in 60s pop rhythms and subtle Latin melodies. At its centre, the repeated lyric “all I do is seek pleasure” echoes to cyclical nature of these activities, whereby you try to get that hit of dopamine time and time again, although the ache is never quite soothed. By the songwriter’s own admission, “I never feel better”.

There’s no true resolution by the end of ‘Pleasure‘, instead we’re encourage to exercise all of our emotional demons through the burning guitars riffs and confessional lyrics. If that isn’t catharsis, then we don’t know what is.