I’m so tired I can’t think anymore
Can’t escape, can’t find the door
Voice grows silent and my heart is a stone
Always your words and never my own
Straight out of the Rust Belt, ShadowMouth returns with Your Words, Not Mine, the first taste from their anticipated debut LP, Modern Alchemy. Spearheaded by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rick Polo (Baroque Monody, Heck Vektor), ShadowMouth confronts themes of digital disconnection, personal isolation, and identity erosion through a visceral blend of goth, coldwave, and industrial sounds.
Following last year’s Purification By Fire EP and early-2025’s razor-sharp single False P̶r̶o̶p̶h̶e̶t̶s̶ Profits, Polo reunites with drummer and producer Brooks Farris and vocalist Josh Thompson at Electric Fox Studios, dialing up intensity and emotional urgency with this anthem of sociopolitical commentary. Your Words, Not Mine cuts straight into the unsettling reality of online existence, examining how our own voices can be drowned out by digital chatter, leaving us silent, depleted, and stripped of self.
Your Words, Not Mine critiques social media addiction, emphasizing how digital life distorts identity, fuels anxiety, and silences personal authenticity. They describe feeling trapped in a superficial cycle, driven by validation yet drained emotionally, ultimately urging disconnection from screens to reclaim genuine thoughts and individuality lost amid constant consumption of external opinions and conflict. The song pulses with raw tension and direct lyrical impact, confronting listeners with their own complicity in the numbing scroll of screen-bound life. ShadowMouth aims straight for the heart, shattering illusions of virtual connection to challenge us toward authenticity and renewal.
“‘It’s fascinatingly ironic how there are platforms larger than ever in history to share our voices, yet we are seemingly more disconnected than ever before, Polo muses. “Social media, and these platforms which are run by billionaire megalomaniacs, has stolen and distorted our voice, our personality, and completely altered how we interact with one another on a personal level.”
Listen to Your Words, Not Mine below and order the single here.
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