Singled Out: November Girl's Altar

Keavin Wiggins | 09-05-2024

NYC based alt rockers November Girl release their debut EP "Heart Prayer" today, and to celebrate we asked lead vocalist Willa Rudolph to tell us about the song "Altar". Here is the story:

"Altar" is the last song on our EP Heart Prayer. It began with a riff written by guitarist Billy Flanagan, but the lyrics were adapted from one of our older songs that we never released called "Leave LA." Both Billy and I are from LA and I think both experience the feeling of not wanting to leave the city (NYC) when we're here, but then not wanting to come back when we're in California. It's the constant feeling that one day you'll have to make a permanent decision of where to reside, and like your heart is torn in two, one half 3000 miles away from the other.

I don't want to live in LA anytime soon. It bores me in so many ways. I grew up there. My entire family is full of New Yorkers and I feel like a fish to water here in the city. Yet somehow, it's like the spirits in the canyon I'm from reach cross country and draw me towards them.

The song kind of feels like a trance until the chorus bursts through and rips you out of it. The drums are repetitive and plug along throughout the song, the bass driving the whole thing and the guitar kind of writes the script on top. It's like the drums and the bass are a sunset-colored watercolor wash on a beautiful thick paper, and the guitar is the script written in metallic ink. And then the lyrics are my blood sweat and tears dripped on the page, smearing everything a little bit.

We also decided to put a little spoken word moment at the very end of the song because we knew it was gonna be the last song on the EP. We wanted the outro to be a strong finish and a kind of signing-off, in a way. The song kind of fell out of us in a way, which I find usually results in the best songs.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here