The second single from the newly launched record label, lovingly called Sick, has been unveiled. The song, “Scream Your Name”, is a collaboration between Nick Valensi of the Strokes, producer Mr. Hudson, and singer-songwriter Azia.
A cute little joke with a throbbing rhythm and charmingly distorted guitar, Azia calls the song “an ode to the push and pull of a relationship you shouldn’t be in at all.” In a statement, she said, “When Nick, Ben and I went into the studio, I really told them that I just wanted to experiment and explore, without feeling that there was any big professional agenda behind the songs.”
Lyrically, Azia wanted “Scream Your Name” to “feel ironically funny, despite describing an extremely unhealthy relationship.” He added, “I think of this song as the saxophone or the calm before the storm, which gets louder and louder until you either eventually turn it off or go for Round 10.”
SICK – founded by Carre Callaway (aka musician Queen Kwong), Darian Zahedi and Nick Hinman – released their debut single in September, “PULS.zip”, which brought together IDLES’ Lee Kiernan and Tokyo-based artist RIS-707.
Sik aims to bring together both established and emerging artists across different generations, genres and cities for collaborative singles without restrictive long-term contracts. The label welcomes both independent and signed artists. “I want Sick to foster a community and a scene,” Callaway recently explained. flood magazine. “I want it to help us get back to the grassroots level, find agency and support from fellow artists, and realize that complaining won’t help. As artists, we have to save ourselves and each other.”
“People keep asking me how I know Sick is going to work,” she said, “and I keep saying, ‘I don’t know. This is the music industry. No one can know anything these days.’ But we are artists and every good artist has to take risks. We’re shooting our best shot with Sik.