Written by Shea Roney

There always seems to be a shift in the air when hemlock, the faithful project of Lousiana-based songwriter Carolina Chauffe, is gearing up for another release. It’s indescribable, but you can feel it in the way the wind chooses to blow or how strangers interact with each other on the street. Tomorrow, hemlock shares a new track, “Another Drag”, a stand-alone single from a 2025 recording session with more songs yet to be revealed, featuring the Chicago players Andy PK, Bailey Minzenberger and Jack Henry Lickerman. You can listen to “Another Drag” and watch its accompanying music video a day before its release premiering here.

Desire, at its best, is unpredictable. And at its most exposed, is uncontrollable. “Another Drag” is poised as a question with no answers, as Chauffe and the work-horse hemlock crew dig their heels deep into the restless derivation of our desires.  Without a pause, Chauffe sings out, “Is my desire / A loaded gun, a wounded bird”, the words sometimes growling back with scorched lungs and a cadence unwilling to be cornered. All too familiar, “another drag of your cigarette” keeps us out to shiver just a little bit longer; the forging rhythm section pronouncing the erratic guitars, the band embracing opportunity over any formality, as “Another Drag” pulls you in close for just one more.

Watch the music video for “Another Drag” directed and edited by Carolina Chauffe, with video submissions from friends, fans, and strangers.

“Another Drag” will be out everywhere tomorrow, except for Spotify and Amazon Music, who continue to invest in AI and weapons manufacturing companies. You can listen to 444, hemlock’s most recent release with the Chicago band, out now on vinyl via Shuga Records.