And what a video!
For the better part of a decade, Visitation has operated as the shapeshifting musical vessel for singer-songwriter Ray Heekin.
From the intimate lo-fi recordings of a string quartet in his parents’ living room to the glam-infused perfection of 2022’s Computers, the project has always defied easy categorisation.
Now, with the live iteration of the band solidified (featuring Jake Carlson, Ali Youngblood of Black Kids, and a punchy three-piece brass section), Visitation returns with ‘New Age to the Bone,’ a single that finds Heekin undergoing a lyrical and sonic metamorphosis.
The track is a slow-burning study in contrasts.
It opens with an eerie, sparse landscape built on finger snaps and a clicking drum rhythm that hangs in the air like smoke.
Heekin enters with a vulnerable, almost whispered plea, painting himself as a diminished celestial body: “Darling tonight I need you, I’m burning half as bright / as any half-assed star tonight.”
It is a confession of inadequacy, a dark age of the soul set to music. But the song’s true magic lies in its bursts of melodic colour.
A cascading piano line introduces that signature baroque pop elegance, while a smoky, noir-ish saxophone slinks through the verses like a detective in the rain.
Just as Heekin vows to abandon his old worldview, “I’ve moved on from that dark age shit I was on,” he coos, “Now I’m new age to the bone”, the arrangement swells to meet his transformation.
The track builds to a stomping, triumphant climax where four-part harmonies and the full brass section collide, providing a cathartic release before dissolving into a shimmering ambient synth and saxophone outro.
It’s a sonically rich declaration of reinvention, suggesting that for Visitation, evolving isn’t an option; it’s the only way to burn.
