Hope Of The States‘ Samuel J Herlihy has dropped a new solo single ‘Insignificance’ via a text-based adventure game – find out more below.
READ MORE: Hope Of The States on their return: “It’s loud, it’s messy, it has all that heart in it”.
The new music comes following the singer announcing last year that he would be embarking on a solo career, and dropping his first single, ‘The Entire Span of Human Existence’.
He went on to play a debut solo show in London, and hinted that he had a full solo album on the way, which would be entirely self-produced and recorded on the same cassette that he used to record his first-ever songs when he was 13.
Now he has announced debut album ‘Poltergeist’, and released brand new track ‘Insignificance’.
Starting out with nods to early Bob Dylan material, the song begins with an intriguing instrumental melody, before gradually building until it reaches a final chorus filled with fuzz-dominated guitars.
At time of writing, the song is only available via a text based adventure ‘game’ which provides context and narrative to the lyrics, although a digital release will be dropped at a later date.
Discussing the single, Herlihy shared: “I think I’d seen the Dylan movie, the one with Willy Wonka [Timothée Chalamet] in it, and was thinking how those first couple of records were so great and I hadn’t really listened to them in years.
Then the first line is a nod to the Jim O’Rourke record ‘Insignificance’, I remember hearing that record years ago and really loving it, thinking how trad but out-there it is simultaneously.
As for Hope Of The States, the band returned in 2024 and dropped their first single since 2006, ‘Long Waits In A & E’. They went on to share two more new tracks, ‘Footage/Steamtrain’ and ‘Billboard Mountain’, and also released a reissue of their 2004 debut record, ‘The Lost Riots’, for National Album Day 2025.
In October last year, they wrapped up a UK reunion tour, which saw them play their first live shows together in almost 20 years. The trek included a performance at Islington Assembly Hall in London.
Last summer, Herlihy spoke to NME about the trio’s comeback and shared his excitement about writing new music as part of the group.
Herlihy continued: “To be able to do this with a smile on our faces is all you can ask for. There’s a real sense of gratitude to be able to do this again.”.
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