Establishing the mood with the sound of a whistling missile, followed by an explosion, Map of the Woulds open The Old Songs with a sentiment of alarm, especially considering that bombs and missiles were designed to whistle or wail to create a psychological impact on their victims. 

The opus expands with a brooding bass frequency and guitar soundscape as Map of the Woulds share lyrical dissonance and musical irony with bright vocals and the grounding prose, “We’re killing children and animals every day, in every country in every way, we’ve got weapons that are the crème de la crème, there are only two factions, us and them…”

It’s a reality check. We are currently in turmoil as a planet, whilst genocides are being live streamed on the internet, whilst artists are “creating content”. The Seattle-based band tells, “The song is a slightly dark, definitely cynical and entirely absurdist look at the current state of being a creative person in the modern world.”

We appreciate the philosophical depth that manifests and the commentary on being slaves to the algorithm, whilst “the only thing that works is love love love….”. The Old Songs is consciously astute, the band shares their dharma through the medium of art as activism. It’s catchy and extremely poignant.

The guitar performances are masterful, full of emotion that reminds us of “the old songs” – fans of The Beatles and Pink Floyd would be able to connect, but it has a punk 2025 aesthetic too. The harmonized mantra of “everyone like and subscribe” is extremely psychedelic and we are grateful for the eye opening trip that the band has taken us on!

Map of the Woulds, founded in 2019, consists of Woody Frank on guitar, Andrew Woods on bass, and Adrian Woods on drums, with all three members sharing their vocals too! Their shared intention is to make “challenging ideas pop-palatable.”

We love The Old Songs, and have added the track to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream Map of the Woulds‘ wider discography, including Last Leaf, and Plague.

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