It feels like I’m once again preaching for the ever-constant force that is Dead Freights, and quite honestly, it’s because I’ve never felt more connected or passionate about a band and their music.

The songs that the Southampton trio have released in recent months are ones I’ve heard performed live countless times over the last 4 years, maybe even longer.

I’ve always been excited about the prospect of new material with these indie rockers, and the arrival of their ever-promised debut album is imminent. Which for me, creates a full circle moment on the band’s history.

I’ve seen them support bands like The Libertines and The View, but I’ve also seen them play their own gigs in Southampton and London, as well as other cities like Bournemouth, Brighton and Bristol. The consensus is that this catalogue of material stands out as something different to the usual grassroots venue acts you may witness.

This new single ‘Little Death Project’ is also the name of the debut album, which is set for release in the coming months.

Released on Gary Powell’ (The Libertines) 25 Hour Convenience Store, It’s an interesting concept name for a single and album, and you may interpret it differently to me, but this is the perception I have of the track.

It hints to the small implosions that happen when you’re in a band together. The little moments of intensity and the relief and joy that can be found in surviving these battles. Little death itself derives from the French phrase “La petite mort” which nods towards the loss of consciousness or sensation found after intense pleasure.

It’s used metaphorically to explore a “mini-death” that then leads to a new beginning. For me, this ties very well into the history of the band. As the glue of Dead Freights, Charlie James (Vocalist and guitarist) and Louis Duarte (Drummer) have been a constant within each iteration.

Members have come and gone across the band’s history, but these 2 have seen it through together, before settling on the current lineup which see’s Brogan Turner join them on bass. This current form has settled enough to allow production of the debut album.

It feels poignant and fitting that the band have settled on ‘Little Death Project’ as the album name, putting all the fall outs and previous history behind them, and striving forward into this new era.

Onto the single, which was released as a surprise to fans, it feels like a traditional Dead Freights track, but at the same time there’s something new. It was recorded at Station 65, by Boof Tuesday.

Their music is traditionally riff driven indie-rock, but I feel this song highlights the tightness and power that they derive from the rhythm section. Duarte’s drums are fast and Turner’s strong and powerful bassline holds themselves as a constant throughout the track.

Along the odd twang of a riff, James carries grit and swagger throughout his vocal delivery. The provocative and playful lyrics are given the space to breathe, and some lines are groaned in hardly more than a whisper.

He allows his lyrical wit and charm to command the track, with lines like “Kicking a crows skull down the road. Chewing off my cheek bones, singing glory, glory hole-elujah for Bueller to hold”.

The second verse continues with the same poetic flair “Somebody scrape this dead animal up. He’s having little black spasms in his gravelly guts. His was enthusiasms too rabid to fuck, so he crows and he crows. Makes a birthday with he was dead and get his candle blown”.

There’s a classic Charlie James scratchy guitar solo towards the end of the hit that feels very much aligned with their previous body of work.

Naming both the album and the lead single ‘Little Death Project’ feels like a statement of intent. This isn’t polished indie-pop, and Dead Freights have stuck true to the gritty, garage-rock sound they have forged as their own. This band documents their bruises instead of covering them up, and this makes them sound more alive.

Review by Brad Halcrow for The Songbird HQ