BEST NEW SONG: MXMS - GRAVEDIGGER

MXMS' "Gravedigger" is the deepest, darkest, sexiest, smoothest single of the season. Get down.

Love, sex, sensuality. These things are kind of strange and sometimes contradictory animals. On one hand, they're supposed to be the best life has to offer. Because of this, love and pleasure hurt have the potential to hurt way more than anything else, if only because we want them so bad.

Similarly, romance is supposed to be all about intimacy and connection, about getting as close as humanly possible until you can't tell where one person ends and the other begins. This tendency becomes complicated and convoluted as the years trickle onward. After a few tangos and some battle scars, our hearts are no longer as unblemished as virginal snow. We are not as unsullied as alabaster silk. And yet, with every new romance, every fresh connection, we're supposed to pretend it's our first rodeo.

On one hand, you're giggling and flirting like a 13-year old while, in the same breath, you're maniacally researching your paramore on the Internet, with the intensity of the Harvard review board and the thoroughness and paranoia of a seasoned private investigator.

This strange dichotomy is the source of MXMS' hot new banger "Gravedigger." Ariel Levitan and Jeremy Dawson spin a tapestry of nocturnal beats and fierce sub-bass to serve as a bedrock for Levitan's somewhat obsessive speak-sing-rapping.

MXMS - GRAVEDIGGER

MXMS (Me And My Shadow) are a doomy electro duo, operating in the shadowy interzone between Los Angeles and NYC. L.A.'s glamorous hedonism blends with NYC's artiness and nocturnal shadows. The bass growls like the A-train beneath your feet, while Ariel Levitan's soporific vocals bring to mind a seance summoning Judy Garland.

As the ground begins to harden and freeze, "Gravedigger"'s central metaphor becomes apparent. The surface is hardened with permafrost, but a steamy warmth lies just six inches below the surface. Likewise, "Gravedigger" glimmers and glows with restrained passion, just waiting to break free. MXMS have warm, loving hearts that just happen to bear their fair share of scars. They seem to be saying, "We will love you, but don't mess with us, or we shall destroy you."

We Are: The Guard can sympathize. It's hard to remain open, innocent and loving while remaining guarded at the same time. Nevertheless, we shall persist, and suggest you find a way to do the same. Start off by digging "Gravedigger!"

Stream / Download MXMS - Gravedigger

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.