Hutch’s new single oozes with an off-kilter energy, like a forgotten dream flickering at the edge of reality.

It’s a sonic journey that feels both hauntingly familiar and unsettlingly alien. The track murmurs secrets through distorted guitars and shadowy vocals, each note peeling away another layer of the surreal. It’s a descent into a beautifully twisted dimension, where the ordinary warps into the uncanny.

“A lot of what inspires us is nature”

‘Rustle’ feels like a song full of joyful nostalgia, written during a time of uncertainty. Do you think that period of isolation gave you new insights into the way you approach music-making?

The entirety of lockdown was quite a shape-shifting time for us, and we got to explore so many ideas, concepts, and interesting structure forms simply because we had the time to do so—especially at such an early point in the band’s history. ‘Rustle’ was such a fun one to write; imagining a person who was outside enjoying nature, being with friends, and feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays on their skin. I still felt like it was someone else experiencing it, and I had to ask them about their experience. It represented how I was feeling at the time. It helped me not feel like I was missing out on life—or at least, it felt like somebody wasn’t missing out.

Can you talk more about the surreal imagery in the lyrics, like hopping on a zebra or watching the moon bubble up like a frying pan? Where do these fantastical elements come from, and what do they represent to you personally?

A lot of what inspires us is nature, and so many of our favorite artists talk about it in such wonderfully and fanatically twisted ways. I especially like to think about lyrics as surreal, slowly-moving ordinary things. I must have been making eggs when I wrote the “frying pan” line. I like this idea of a slowly shifting and contorted moon. The wobbling, shyly psychedelic imagery, I think, helps to add some magic and soft world-building into a song like ‘Rustle.’

I love that the name ‘Rustle’ came from your affection for Arthur Russell. The word itself evokes movement and energy, almost like the gentle stirring of something. How does the title reflect the mood or the message of the song?

Somewhere deep in my memories, I always associated the name “Russell” with a cute and curious child. Now that I think about it, was the child from Up called Russell? I liked his personality—curious and unexpectedly brave, but emotional and worried. I think ‘Rustle’ definitely has those qualities. The rustling through the long grass is such a curious thing, to be looking at something you’re unsure if you should show yourself to yet because you don’t know if it will treat you well. Arthur Russell certainly has a lot of these emotional and tender sounds in his voice and lyrics, which, during lockdown, were very relaxing and lovely. It seemed fitting to name this character ‘Rustle.’

In the song, you speak about a “fictional child” who goes on adventures while the band is stuck at home. How did the idea of this character, this “version of you,” help you process the frustrations of being confined during the pandemic?

It’s an astral-projection style song. We definitely found that creating a fictional story during lockdown and living there for a while was a lot nicer than the reality of living in the lockdown world. So much so, we say all of our songs are set within “The Inkman Universe” to give them their own space where anything is possible. ‘Rustle’ as a character always went between being us, to being some sort of person we knew, to being a child we collectively had together, to being a childlike version of ourselves. Sometimes the best part about ‘Rustle’ was that you didn’t quite know who he was. He was like a wavering heat line above a long stretch of tarmac in the summer sun—a strange mirage.

You mentioned that ‘Rustle’ was initially shelved but later found its way back into your set…

That’s right, though the memory of when that exactly happened is foggy. It was definitely written in April 2021. I don’t think it was first played live by us until maybe December 2023? All I remember is suddenly ‘Rustle’ was back, and we were all glad it was. It’s always fun to have some harmony-heavy moments in the set, and it was just really fun and fast. Sometimes we worry we have too many long ones (I know, a silly worry to have).

What are some future plans?

Touring, music videos, fun shows, hanging out at the river, hanging out at the seaside. Maybe we’ll get to releasing a proper album soon. Plenty more hangs with friends and showing love to the people in our lives who we so dearly love.

Before we go, what are some of the latest records you have been spinning?

JP: I’ve been listening to this great song called ‘2,4,6,8’ by Horsegirl. I never seem to get tired of it. I also have a lot of time for The Minks’ EP Glow.

Dan: I’ve been listening a lot to this tune ‘No One Noticed’ by The Marías, which is beautiful—like a massage for the brain. Our good friend Maximilian is playing in Brighton this week, so I’ve had his album Surrender on in preparation. It’s a cathartic folk rock masterpiece—a real tearjerker. Also, I’ve revisited the King Gizzard synth-pop album recently. It’s unbelievable cooking music—makes you feel like you’re cooking in fast forward.

Charlie: I’ve been listening to SAULT’s new album Acts Of Faith—some bopping bass lines, and the tunes all flow into each other, giving vibes similar to Marvin’s What’s Going On (which might be one of the best albums ever…).

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Photo by Ele Marchant

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