the Used
[Photo by Brian Cox]

The Used’s “Cathedral Bell” will have you feeling trapped in your own head

We’re rapidly approaching the release date of the Used‘s upcoming album Heartwork on April 24. Now, they’re tiding us over with the newest single “Cathedral Bell.” 

Heartwork is the Used’s eighth studio album and sees the return of John Feldmann. Feldmann is responsible for such classic scene-defining tracks as “The Taste Of Ink” and “A Box Full Of Sharp Objects.”

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Leading up to “Cathedral Bell,” the Used have given us a taste of just two tracks from Heartwork. 

They released gloriously vicious “Blow Me” featuring FEVER 333’s mighty Jason Aalon Butler at the end of 2019. Then, they unveiled the details of the new album with the equally hard-hitting, “Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton” in February.

Now, if you were expecting the Used to not skip a beat and deliver another pounding rock anthem, you’re sorely mistaken. 

“Cathedral Bell” proves the elasticity and dynamics of the Used with its energetic, catchy, almost pop-like vibes. But don’t let those terms fool you. The new track is like a shiver up your spine, or the voice you swore you heard coming from the closet. 

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“It reminds me of being a little kid,” Bert McCracken said to NYLON. “I had a really hard time with sleeping when I was younger. I just never wanted to go to bed, and when I did, I could never sleep. It just reminds me of being young and in the dark and up way past my bedtime.”

The music video “Cathedral Bell” has an equally unsettling feel. The star is an oddly animated figure trapped in a room. 

“Feeling stuck is one of the major themes of the record,” McCracken says. “I think that yeah, now we’re stuck inside and stuck with ourselves, but I think that we’ve been stuck for a long time. There’s been a longing to heal something with art again.”

The video is shot as though it is glitchy security cam footage to add to the air of mystery. Watch it below. 

“Cathedral Bell” Lyrics

I hear sounds that my mouth didn’t make.
I hear words that you don’t ever say.
There’s a door, there’s a door to the cage.
I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid yet.
I see patterns of light in the dark.
When the red opens up, there’s a star.
In the sensory cave that you made; I lie awake.
I’m still awake.

I can’t move, like I’m stuck in the mud, I’m up to my neck.
Face in the flood, my feet in cement. Hey—
I’m confused by the shapes in the dark.
The thoughts in my head.
I know I’m alive, I thought I was dead.

I’ve got moves to make but I can’t move.
I’ve got moves to make but I can’t move.

There’s a light at the top of the stairs.
I wanna know what goes on up there.
Live a life in a world outside.
Tell me why? So tell me why.

I can’t move, like I’m stuck in the mud, I’m up to my neck.
Face in the flood, my feet in cement. Hey—
I’m confused by the shapes in the dark.
The thoughts in my head.
I know I’m alive, I thought I was dead.

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I don’t have words so I made them myself and now the silence rings like a cathedral bell.
I can’t move, like I’m stuck in a box with no room to stretch.
Alone with my thoughts. So what happens next?

I’ve got moves to make but I can’t move.
I’ve got moves to make but I can’t move.

I can’t move, like I’m stuck in the mud, I’m up to my neck.
Face in the flood, my feet in cement. Hey—
I’m confused by the shapes in the dark.
The thoughts in my head.
I know I’m alive, I thought I was dead.

Heartwork by the Used drops April 24 on producer John Feldmann‘s Big Noise label. The album can be preordered here. Check out the tracklist below.

Heartwork Tracklist

1. “Paradise Lost, A poem by John Milton”
2. “Blow Me” (Feat. Jason Aalon Butler)
3. “Big, Wanna Be”
4. “Bloody Nose”
5. “Wow, I Hate This Song”
6. “My Cocoon”
7. “Cathedral Bell”
8. “1984 (Infinite Jest)”
9. “Gravity’s Rainbow”
10. “Clean Cut Heals”
11. “Heartwork”
12. “The Lighthouse” (Feat. Mark Hoppus)
13. “Obvious Blasé (Feat. Travis Barker)
14. “The Lottery” (Feat. Caleb Shomo)
15. “Darkness Bleeds, FOTF”
16. “To Feel Something“.

Tell us what you think of the Used’s “Cathedral Bell” in the comments below!

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