by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Snake aka Shanna Polley writes timeless songs. Since the early days of New York’s Snakeskin, Polley has shown an incredible knack for perfectly structured songs that hit deep with both expansive progressions and Polley’s beautifully vulnerable voice. Snakeskin’s last full length, Hangnail, released back in 2019, feels like a long-last classic, the type of album that’s been with you your entire life. Last year’s Heart Orb Bone EP made a move toward pop-inclinations, matched with perfect tonality and melodic arrangements, the type that could make your favorite songwriting jealous (unless Snake is your favorite songwriter… in which case, you get it). Snakeskin is set to return with a new full length, Summoning Suit, in the not too distant future, and while details are hazy, the lead single “Spinning Heart” and its accompanying video are immaculate.
From the ominous start to the lush acoustics and slow grooving rhythm (the drums courtesy of frequent collaborator Charlotte Kahn), Snakeskin sets up a sweeping landscape of natural tones, tangled, and accented in atmosphere, reminiscent at times of Smashing Pumpkins at their very best. The sustain of guitars and bass builds against mounting tension, harnessed by Snake’s voice, commanding and breaking in time with emotional dexterity. The songs steadily progresses, dropping in and out of darker clouds, retaining a sense of beauty as it builds toward delightful harmonies and carefully developed distortion.
Then there’s the video… Directed by William Bottini, the cinematic video literally finds Snake falling into a strange and sinister setting, where the air whips like the soundscapes from Eraserhead. We are eventually introduced to a spectacular rollercoaster, full of visual detail and stunning design (Bottini built the virtual coaster using No Limits 2 Roller Coaster Simulation), and before we know it, Snake is onboard for the ride. There’s a great blend of surrealist digital production mixed with the reality of Snake herself, racing out of the darkness into a far more fantastical video game indebted setting. The sunshine can’t last forever though, and Snake is brought directly into a storm with a supernatural presence (that sort of resembles the world’s creepiest Lego character) before disappearing, and well… we can’t wait to see the next installment.
Speaking about the video, Bottini shared:
"The music video for “Spinning Heart” follows Snake on a mysterious ride on a roller coaster that is also called Spinning Heart. The coaster carries Snake through time and space in sync with the music on a journey of awakening, remembrance, and, for a time, joy. But where does the ride lead us? It certainly does not take us back to where we started. More will be revealed with future releases from her upcoming album, Summoning Suit.”