Seattle musicians Joel Paton and Deer Venom‘s Mario Barbetta team up on this haunting track “King of Worms.” First recorded as a sort of one-off back in 2016 in Barbetta’s basement, the track, written by Paton with additional arrangement from Barbetta, finds Joel on vocals and lead guitar, with Mario providing additional instrumentation including bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals. Like some lost B-side, “King of Worms” had kicked around in the background as a demo for some time, but recently the pair remixed the track at Earwig Studio before having it mastered at Black Belt.
Sounding something like a late night, fireside collaboration between Neil Young and Beck, the track’s crepuscular guitar and eerie tones streak across a darkened sky like shooting stars of sound. Meanwhile, Paton’s sobering meditation on the power of the worm as a regenerative factor, coupled with the cut’s sense heightened arrangement, makes “King of Worms” a standout not soon to be forgotten.
