The climactic peak of “You Know You’ve Not a Thing,” the first single from Paper Fairy’s debut album, may be the drum solo-like bridge two-thirds of the way through the track. Up to that point, the song seems to plod through an obstacle course of noise and silence, as if restrained to simmer but never boil. Twitching instrumentals back dark lines where Chris Gaskell, the Brooklyn musician leading the project, repeats the title phrase: “you know you’ve not a thing to rely on,” “you know you’ve not a thing to hold on to,” but the track doesn’t peak until that middle section where distorted drums battle with chaotic jolts of sound. It’s a fitting introduction to Paper Fairy’s debut album, Haunter Haunted, which Gaskell describes as a horror concept album. Haunter Haunted will be self-released on October 26. Listen to “You Know You’ve Not a Thing” below, and check the project out live tomorrow (09.18) at Sunnyvale. – Cameron Carr
