Last year, Villagers released ‘Occupy Your Mind’, a song which addressed the Russian laws against anyone who just happened to be homosexual.
‘Hot Scary Summer’, the second song from Darling Arithmetic, after ‘Courage’, features homophobes but it’s framed in the personal rather than the global. The song detailing a breakup between two people, juxtaposes sweet moments like “kissing on the cobblestone” with “all the pretty young homophobes looking out for a fight” and a society that makes someone “half a person / half a monster.”
The song title and the subject matter seems to suggest a summer night that could explode into the hurtful and visceral at any moment. Another poetic personal vignette from Conor O’Brien.
