Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.
The Recognitions, the forthcoming album by dream pop duo Exitmusic (out on April 20th via felte) is a definitive final statement. Not only the last word of this musical project but also as a couple. The two artists at the center of this stormy record—Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church—were, until recently, married. They started Exitmusic in 2004, letting the work they made together reflect the delights and struggles of their relationship. And just as they were putting the finishing touches on The Recognitions, the two finalized their divorce.
Can you hear the struggle and the release of that within this song “I’ll Never Know”? That’s in the eye of the beholder. To these ears, the panting and groaning that opens the song sound like the exhalations of someone who has just run a marathon. And as it builds in momentum and tension, Palladino’s words come spilling out in breathy, spittle-flecked desperation, the words “let go” and “I’ll never know you” floating the surface of their beautifully murky music. It feels like a relaxing of muscles, an adrenaline rush after a confrontation and, by the time it withers to a close, a closing of a door. Exitmusic, indeed.