Barbie Almalbis confronts deep pain, longing in ‘Desperate Hours’
After collaborating with indie-folk band Munimuni on “Tupa” and co-headlining the Mist Music Festival in Canada, Barbie Almalbis gears up for a new era in music with the release of her new song “Desperate Hours.”
Produced by La Balls’ resident arranger and studio whiz Nick Lazaro, who has worked with Clara Benin and BP Valenzuela, “Desperate Hours” serves as the first official single off the alternative rock icon’s upcoming fifth studio album, to be released at the end of the year.
Coming across as an innovative tour de force in the mold of Bjork, Melanie Martinez and St. Vincent, Almalbis’ avant-pop track refuses any easy categorization. It is her most experimental work to date.
Here, the two unlikely collaborators play around with unconventional guitar riffs, loose structures and oddly charming noises. It sounds like pop music in the strictest sense of the word, but not the type that is bound by rules and limitations.
“I’ve dreamt of doing something like this for years but didn’t have the knowledge and courage, so meeting Nick has been a godsend, because producing this way is something that seems to come so easily for him,” said Almalbis.
“It’s also a lot of work. He made me sing hard, do crow sounds, explosions, portamentos and ‘witchy’ voices, and though it felt a little weird at times, I think it actually sounds good in context.”
Almalbis’ poetic songwriting shines in “Desperate Hours”—she penned the material in a time of deep pain and longing.
“I couldn’t understand much about what I was going through, but I knew I needed to lean on God, and also sought the help of ‘last resort’ friends—like a last hope, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency kind of friends,” she said.
“One day, things were beginning to get better, and I had a bit of clarity. I woke up early and wrote the pre-chorus: I can feel the rescuer … finally the war is over. It was actually more a song of faith, and soon enough, this struggle will indeed be over. Then it happened that later that morning, I was doing some reading and came across Psalm 18. I was surprised to find that it was about the same topic and even used similar metaphors. It really made me feel like I was on the right track, and so the psalm became a guide to finishing the rest of the song.”
“Desperate Hours” is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide.
