Chicago rock outfit Santah first grabbed my attention with last year's album Chico. Released back in November, the eleven song project was one of my favorite albums of 2015. While Chico was my first introduction into the group, they actually released two projects back in 2011 (White Noise Bed) and 2012 (You're Still a Lover). As I got properly acquainted with the discography of Santah throughout this winter, they decided to release even more music, this time in the form of a "supersingle". While that package will see the light of day tomorrow, we're happy to premiere the unreleased single "Solid Gone" today via TheseDays. Along with the premiere of this groovy Santah track, we also spoke with lead singer Stan McConnell about this particular track as well as what we can expect from Santah throughout the remainder of 2016. You can check their upcoming tour dates here. 

Chico was your first full-length in three years, and you're already dropping a "super" single. Do you have a lot of content in the vaults?

Yes--in the three years leading up to the Chico release, we had been writing and experimenting quite a bit, so there's a lot of seeds, demos, and sessions still in the vaults. A lot of them are still marinating and many will see the light of day, once they're "finished"--whatever that means. Each song always has its own special path, and this "supersingle" will highlight that of "Who's in Town?", one of our favorite tunes from the record.

How would you describe "Solid Gone" to a stranger?

"Solid Gone" is an ode to human imperfection and how we can always expect it--even from our heroes or from people we'll always love. How everyone can be terrible sometimes. The title is a line from The Jungle Book, a quote from Baloo, how he explains himself to Bagheera when he finds himself lost in the intro vamp of "I Wanna Be Like You". They're supposed to be rescuing Mowgli, but Baloo just dances off. I guess that's one of my imperfections--that I get distracted; I ride the emotional wave.

Sonically, the song is pretty trippy. Compared to our other tunes, it's a little spastic and a little tongue-in-cheek. Just like your devotion to someone or your attention span, it can seem like it's on the edge of unravelling. The chorus is one of my favorites and is conducive to singing along at very loud volumes. It sounds shiny to me. I suppose that in the end, especially in the chorus, it's kind of triumphant in that way. It's still a bittersweet celebration, like a lot of our catalogue.

What can we expect from Santah for the remainder of the year?

We are trying to get into a creative flow again. Since Chico came out, I've found myself inspired again and am writing a lot. We'll be starting demoing new ideas and turning back to the vault for a lot of the year in preparation of the next project.

We'll also be playing many more shows around the country--we're headed to SXSW next week and we're planning an Adult Prom extravaganza in Chicago on Friday, June 10 at 1st Ward in Wicker Park. It's going to be wild and have like five bands. 

Any final words/thoughts/shout-outs? 

Thanks to the amazing Danielle, Este, and Alanna Haim. This song came out of nowhere after a night partying with these girls, so we call them out in the song. They're charmin' and oozing with talent. They're also just humans.

I'd also like to say thanks to Otto Stuparitz for his contribution to the original incarnation of "Who's in Town" and some of the other early Chico tunes. You can hear him on the Smith Harbour demo of the song contributing bass and vocals.