Present Company - "It's Not Looking Good" | Premiere

 (Cover art by Present Company)

Minneapolis pop-rock quartet Present Company spent most of 2020 in a whirlwind surrounding the release of their gleaming debut album, Talking on Couches. However, the band is flaunting their work ethic and releasing a new single already.

"It's Not Looking Good" is the band's most effortless song yet. Present Company embraces their new wave heritage and play with some of the most iconic elements of that era — hooky bass lines, primitive yet effective synth programming, and the wild vocal fluctuations of David Byrne. I really can't understate how much the song evokes the Talking Heads. The band clearly knew how perfectly they were nailing the aesthetic and how catchy every part of their songwriting was when they structured the song as a loop. The first seconds are spent fading in; the last are a fade out. In between, a M.C. Escher drawing's worth of intersecting melodies and hooks is constructed.

The honed-in version of Present Company's sound bodes well for their future work, and in the meantime, has given us a sleek, excellent piece of pop music. Listen to/buy "It's Not Looking Good" below.

The band is also releasing a music video for the single, shot by the band's Eddie Chisham and Christian Nelson with Kennedy Kasperek. Watch it below.