Taxes offer a soaring indie/emo blockbuster on “Frozen Lake”
Taxes—the project of Robby Cronholm, formerly of Bay Area emo/pop punk group crumb—are gearing up to their first new album in eight years, Retirement Home. And after the release of “Foie Gras and Sancerre” earlier this year, Cronholm has shared another new single, “Frozen Lake.” It’s a big, anthemic indie blockbuster, full of soaring choruses and emotional climaxes and some powerful vocals from Cronholm’s collaborator Aishlin Harrison (daughter of Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison).
Taxes’ Robby Cronholm says in a statement, “There are love songs and then, there are songs about love. In my writing career I’ve always been focused on the latter. Songs not about romantic love (there are more than enough of those) but about the people we love and, often, wish we didn’t.
“I’ve been in more than a few relationships that were unhealthy for both involved but seemed to embody the old adage – ‘the heart wants what the heart wants’. That was the impetus of this song: Our toxic lover is left stranded, standing in the middle of a frozen lake. We try to resist, but our impulse to save them is too strong, so we inch out onto the splintered ice. Turning our back to the friends and family standing on shore begging us to stop. Each step toward our beloved is made knowing full-well our attempt at rescue will ensure an icy, watery grave.
“This song is about that. Come on in. The water’s warm.”
Check out the video for “Frozen Lake” below.
