Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle have teamed up for a new single called "Anhedonia", which better be followed by much more. This is entirely too good an powerful to be left alone as just a single. "Anhedonia" was written by Wolfe in 2019 and wrapped up during the COVID-19 pandemic summer of 2020.
For those unaware, anhedonia means the inability to feel pleasure.
"I wrote 'Anhedonia' after I experienced it during summer of 2019, then tucked the song away and moved forward with my acoustic album and subsequent North American tour. When COVID-19 hit and stay-at-home orders began in 2020, my European tour was canceled and I had to fly home," said Wolfe. "Restless, I started listening through my archives of unfinished songs and little unused ideas. When I heard 'Anhedonia' again, it hit me how strangely relevant the lyrics felt to current times. I’d been wanting to work on a song with Emma for a long time, so I recorded it and sent it her way.
"She graciously added her gorgeous vocals and lead guitar, and then Ben mixed it, adding his signature sound landscape as a fortress around the song. As I listened back to the final version, I was finally able to set free those emotions which I couldn’t feel back in 2019. I had worries around releasing the song, not wanting to romanticize the condition of anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure), but I also understood that it could possibly be cathartic for others who are struggling, as it was for me, to sing and dance my way out of a depression.”
"I was moved to tears when she sent me Anhedonia, which made getting through the tracking very emotional and slow on my end," added Rundle. "I love the way the guitars I tracked morphed in Ben's mix. The whole song swirls in a poignant eddy of sorrowful sound and still takes a hard swing at my heart hearing it now."
"Anhedonia" is available digitally now.
