Nearly a year after giving the Bay area a sneak peek of its forthcoming self-titled, full-length debut, Tampa indie-rock trio Empire Cinema is back with another taste of the 10-track effort.
"Sink Or Swim" is the album's second track, and it finds frontman Brendon Hock sifting through a mixed bag of emotions like love, pride and loneliness.
"Swim she says, move those arms and legs" he sings over drummer Andrew Pellegrino's skittering cymbals. "I dream of you sinking with me till our blood runs cold."
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CL Premiere: Empire Cinema shares “Pretty Reckless” from debut full length
"Basically saying I want to love you forever and grow old and die with you," Hock, 31, explains. He insists that the song isn't about one specific person, but two specific people have given life to songs he's been working on for the better part of a half decade now.
"A few were written in the studio," Hock says of the album's songs. "All the songs even from long ago had all the intention of being on the debut full length. Andrew and Mike [Raimondi, bassist] really made us a lot stronger and with time we were able to rework some and really make them our own."
Listen to the track below. Get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com.
This article appears in Jan 18-25, 2018.