Kennedy Von Kat follows up “Desolate,” the Matti Hoffman collaboration I covered here back in November, with “Driving Me Insane,” out May 28th. Where “Desolate” leaned on modern metalcore heaviness, this one pulls more directly from 2000s emo and gothic influences: Escape The Fate, Silverstein, and Sleeping With Sirens among the touchstones, built around the specific feeling of finally hitting a breaking point. Rian Cunningham produced the track, with Quinn Cyrankiewicz of Royal Tusk handling mixing and mastering, and the result pairs catchy, melodic hooks against gritty screamed sections layered over sharp metalcore riffs.
Unironically, this song, compared to “Desolate,” is a lot more “driving” in the sense that its instrumental has a lot more forward momentum, like an unstoppable ride towards the edge, while “Desolate” was a lot heavier and had a darker sound, like you’ve already gone insane and you’re just in a desolate space wallowing. So, in my mind, I’m gonna think of this one as a prequel. But at the same time, the reality is that “Driving Me Insane” was released six months after “Desolate,” so while thematically it could be a prequel, musically I think it’s even more polished. The basslines mirror the vocals in an interesting way, and overall it’s a lot catchier than “Desolate” and has a different sound, as I mentioned, so it’s proof of how diverse Kennedy’s sound is becoming.
That range between the two singles is really the story worth watching here. Six months and two very different emotional registers apart, Kennedy Von Kat is proving she isn’t locked into one specific mode of heaviness, and that kind of versatility, especially this early in a run of singles, bodes well for wherever the next release ends up landing.
