EXCLUSIVE: Draag Premiere New Single “Animal Speciality”

In February, L.A.-based shoegaze outfit Draag teased their highly anticipated debut LP Dark Fire Heresy via lead single “Mitsuwa,” a track spawned early in the pandemic that documented vocalist Jessica Huang’s reflection on spiritual abuse. It set the tone deftly, as Huang’s vocals and songwriting have turned Draag into a balm of distortion. What was once the solo project of Adrian Acosta, the quintet has now morphed into a collective amalgam bonded by roots of jazz, no wave and mariachi. The technical precision of those genres, though not always so obvious in Draag’s sonic presentation, come together on Dark Fire Heresy to forge a singular cauldron of macabre storytelling.

In a sweep of gauzy riffs, pointed percussion and tear-drop synths, Draag’s latest single “Animal Specialty” is a sonic brick wall rife with the same religious taboos and undertones that Huang so palpably critiques. The lyrics are minimal, but they come together to form an evocative powerhouse tracing roots of alienation and dissonance. “In class I see the face of a god / In time I know I don’t belong / They all seem so nice / They are cold as ice / They screamed fire, see fire / Keep on telling me you’re doing fine,” Huang sings. Following “Mitsuwa” and the explosive “Demonbird,” “Animal Specialty” is the final prologue to the warping, colorful and adroit world-building of Dark Fire Heresy and its destruction of extremist worship.

“It took me a long time to realize I didn’t belong in the religious cult I grew up in,” Huang says of the origins of “Animal Specialty.” “It was in a nightmare years later (around the time I began therapy to process this) I saw myself in a typical church meeting and tried to scream that everyone was lying to me, but no sound came out of my mouth.”

Listen to “Animal Speciality” and check out the Dark Fire Heresy album artwork and tracklist below.

Dark Fire Heresy artwork:

Dark Fire Heresy tracklist:
Learning To Live With It
Mitsuwa
Demonbird
Midnight Paradise
Good Era Doom
Animal Specialty
Agastopia
In The Space Of Time
Sin Eating
Endless Buffet Of Love