Released April 26, 2024 “Seven Safe Places” is the third single off Urban Heat’s upcoming album, The Tower, coming this summer via Artoffact Records . [Photo Credit: John Anderson]
It joins the ranks of “Sanitizer,” and “Right Time of Night” as our first glimpses into this new chapter of the band’s body of work, and story. It also happens to be my favourite of the three we have so far! Which, if you’ve read my article about “Like This” is saying quite a bit. That article is actually the first time I wrote about “Seven Safe Places,” describing it as “stunningly beautiful […] haunting and [bringing] such a distinct ache.” I stand by what I said six months ago, November me knew exactly what I was talking about.
Quick catch-up for those of you who are new here: Urban Heat are a post punk / synth pop band from Austin, Texas who formed in 2019. Lockdown happens, their single “Have You Ever?” goes viral on TikTok, going on to win “Song of the Year” at the Austin Music Awards in 2023, and the group wins “Best Band” from Austin Monthly Magazine. All the while, they’ve also been touring internationally with bands like Vision Video and Twin Tribes, and playing festivals including Cruel World and Darker Waves.
The trio, Paxel Foley (bass guitar), Kevin Naquin (sequencer, synthesiser, and drum machine), and Jonathan Horstmann (vocals, guitar, tour manager, fragrance oil maker, and frequent music video director, among other things) put on an incredible and energetic performance which is as captivating as it is entertaining to experience.
Individually and collectively, the fun the trio are having on stage is not only visible, but palpable. And that energy – their presence, charisma and, perhaps most importantly, kindness – extends off stage. I can’t speak to every show, but the nine or so I was working merch for? These guys were out there every night having genuine conversations with people, taking photos, and signing records, posters, keychains and shirts. Frequently some of the last people in the venue were fans who were either speaking with, or waiting to speak with, the band and I believe it was Atlanta where security was – politely and firmly – telling people it was time to leave.
Through Instagram, Jonathan spoke about “Seven Safe Places” and how it began as a “sci-fi epic, imagining a pair of star-crossed lovers as they hide from one of their families who disapprove of their relationship.” On the run across the galaxy, every safe place they find to rest their heads is compromised by morning and so they must return to their travels. I was immediately reminded of Saga, the graphic novel series by Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples. The series follows a pair of star-crossed lovers on the run not only from family, initially, but their respective governments, and multiple interested third parties.
When we spoke back in December, Jonathan mentioned being a fan of the series, and looking forward to new issues dropping. If there’s a connection there – I don’t know there is, and as I’m writing this at 10pm on four hours of sleep am not reaching out to ask – it wouldn’t be the first time sci-fi has been a source of inspiration (see V3C0 and ADSR Black), and I sincerely doubt it will be the last.
On the Instagram posting, Horstmann goes on to explain how songs evolve as we do, and meanings can change as a result. With how much time the band is spending on the road, for example, and being in a different city every night of the week, one of the ways the song changed for him is that hotels became one of his safe spaces, saying “it wasn’t until I got to my hotel room that I’d feel perfectly safe and at peace. And it just so happens there’s seven days in a week and seven safe places to hide.”
Again, I was only with them for nine shows, but it didn’t even take until the halfway point until I was referring to the hotel as “home.” “Looking forward to getting home” absolutely did not mean Canada, but rather whatever room I was putting my head on a pillow in for, usually, five hours or less before hitting the road again. It’s interesting how quickly we can adapt but, for me, this was only a quick journey away from the familiar and routine – these guys have been on tour for the majority of 2024. It’s a completely different scale, and weight.
My first time hearing “Seven Safe Places” was in Vancouver at Green Auto Body and it just made me stop. I’ve described it as my “City Lights” of The Tower – the two songs are not similar, but the way they make me feel is. Much like “City Lights,” “Safe Places” hits me with this feeling of romantic nostalgia, and, while I do mean it in the way that relates to relationships, I mean it more in the sense of Romanticism as a movement, where intense emotions were emphasised as authentic sources of aesthetic experiences.
Interestingly, the song has always made me think of water. The opening in particular has someone sitting underwater, watching how sunlight filters down and plays with ripples and currents. They/you are rising to the surface as the guitar and drums kick in, and the introduction of the bass brings other people to the water’s edge. It’s this time – this feeling of childhood nostalgia, romance, and warm summer days roaming free and unattended – that carries through. For me, it’s equally about what they’re safe places from, as it is what they are – the places, people, and memories we return to in order to find comfort, safety, and strength.
(We’re diving into a little bit of interpretation here which wasn’t something I thought I’d be writing when I started this, and isn’t something I usually do, so buckle up.)
Simultaneously, there’s the venturing into the unknown – it is a frightening proposition to leave everything behind, and that’s how the song is opening. A literal beginning. With that fear comes so much possibility, potential – hope, hope for something different, something more, maybe. And you could do it, you could go and take off and leave the familiar behind to create something, become something, different and new – you could do it together, even. But there’s a cost to that (as there is to all things), the “bodies left in our wake.” They are not, hopefully, literal bodies. But they are the relationships and people outgrown or otherwise left behind – including past versions of yourself that no longer serve you, and those people you’ve hurt – intentionally or not – along the way.
You then have a choice in the narrative you’re creating, in the story you tell yourself: did those bodies in your wake have it coming, “absolving” you of responsibility (or at least making the damage easier to justify to yourself), or do you take responsibility for the harm you’ve been the cause of ? (Note: it’s very funny to me that in writing this I’m just going “oh it really is like Saga” over and over.)
It is in those safe places which, if we go back to the summer lake vibes, might see you back underwater, or floating in the middle of this massive lake, that you have the opportunity to sit and determine those stories. Or, put differently, it’s when we have time to sit, rest, and reflect that we’re able to choose to do the work involved in: a) determining who we want to be, and b) taking steps to become that person with all the mess that constant work in progress entails.
I said back in November that the song has a haunting beauty. It does, as it evokes this deep sadness and equally deep hope. The feeling in the “if we could just”s, that whatever safe place this is, it is temporary – and knowing that, you have the opportunity to make the most of your time there/here. Admittedly difficult when your main concern is survival, but finding joy – especially in the face of overwhelming odds – is itself a type of resistance.
“Seven Safe Places” fills me with a longing not for a place, but a time. A time that no longer exists/never existed, while simultaneously possibly existing in the future. There’s a lot of potential, a lot of hope, in “if we can just”s. A lot of heartache and disappointment, too.
Want to keep up with Urban Heat? Check them out on TikTok , or find them on Instagram!
That’s all for this week! Until next time, stay cozy, and if you want to join your companions around the cauldron, signup for email updates below!
The Cozy Cauldron 