NFV Song Spotlight: Houston In The Blind's On a Wire

I arrived about ten minutes too late to catch Houston In The Blind's full set at Harvard & Stone (a Swyndle night). I walked into the venue and was immediately blown away and regretted not showing up just a few minutes earlier. The music was sonic bliss with a shoegaze touch. 

Houston In The Blind at Harvard & Stone

A couple weeks passed and on a Monday night I scrolled through my photos to see if there were any bands I had forgotten to do a write-up on. I came to my November 11th folder and the first file was a video I had taken of the band. I decided to click on the video to see if I still felt that emotional connection. The answer was most definitely.

Houston In The Blind at Harvard & Stone

I decided to do a little research on the band and came across a Rollacoaster article. I learned that the band started up in Atlanta in 2014. In 2015, the band released their debut album Limbs. Lead singer Charlie Garrett decided to re-located to Los Angeles. That decision resulted in the other band members leaving the group. (He has since moved back to Georgia, this time to Athens.)

Houston In The Blind at Harvard & Stone

That doesn't mean that Garrett decided to stop making music after his bandmates left the group. In an Instagram post he mentions working with Gus Seyffert in Los Angeles. They had their first meeting at The Satellite. That's a place I miss. They ended up recording three songs ("I Don't Believe," "On a Wire," and "You Could Be King") at Seyffert's studio. 

Houston In The Blind at Harvard & Stone

It took some 9 years, but those three songs made it onto the July 2024 release of Houston In The Blind's second album Hide The Glow. Back to that November 11th show, it was part of a 6 stop West Coast tour in support of the album. 

The song that really stood out to me was the song I took video of: "On a Wire." The music is a melancholic and haunting tune. It a song of having a broken heart. The recorded version has additional depth that wasn't their at Harvard & Stone. In the recording, synth keys play chords that slowly go up and down the scales. It adds to the pain felt in the lyrics:

Please don't leave
My heart's on a wire
Razor cuts out desire