Beyond the technical division of labour – “Kevin’s really good at writing the actual music on the guitar” – their songs cohere naturally. “The album came together organically. We weren’t really planning a certain songwriting structure of who writes what. We’ll noodle around and land on something, and there you go. That’s usually how it works.”
That organic process draws on their shared experience creating, releasing, and earning acclaim for , along with the downtime they spent mining everyday life for something bold enough to build an album around. Both now live in their childhood homes before they move to Los Angeles next year. Within the band and between albums, the music always begins from a shared point, putting their hivemind at a clear advantage.
When Krauter finds himself too far in the weeds, he returns to the first moment music moved him. The meaning he drew from it might not have matched the artist’s intention, but it stirred something in him all the same. Every track on brims with nascent curiosity.
“In my earliest experiences of being struck by music, I was probably totally misunderstanding what the song was about. I know a specific lyric hit me in such a way that made me feel something very deeply. When I actually focus on the rest of the song, I realise it’s not what I thought it was about, but it doesn't matter.”
He continues, “I carry that with me when I’m writing – just not really worrying about whether everything makes sense together. I feel like I used to worry about it a lot, and now I'm trying not to worry about it as much. The hook is the point; the lyrics are more for decoration than anything, and the message should happen by accident.”
Pitchkites establishes each song’s mood long before wrestling with its lyrics. “I don’t start with lyrics most of the time. I think about what just sounds good. I love to think of a really good hook. I’ll sit down and try to think of words that flow together effortlessly and have a central theme. Maybe some people might think that’s void of meaning and whatever, but I think there’s implicit meaning in writing music at all. It’s an expressive outlet.”