- 2025-04-07
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MUSIC
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Ax and the Hatchetmen Teams Up with Albert Hammond Jr for New Song “Blurry Lights”
Chicago-based indie rock band Ax and the Hatchetmen, consisting of Axel Ellis (vocals/guitar), Sal Defilippis (guitar), Hunter Olshefke (bass), Nick Deputy (drums), Phil Pistone (trumpet) and Quinn Dolan (saxophone), teamed up with American rock band The Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond Jr to release a new song “Blurry Lights” on April 4, 2025 via Arista Records.
This marks the first collaboration between Ax and the Hatchetmen and Albert Hammond Jr.
For Ax and the Hatchetmen, the song is the second single of 2025, following “Stay // Honestly” released back in January.
Meanwhile, for Albert Hammond Jr, it is first collaborative single in a year since Spotify Singles, “Złamane serce jest OK” and “Ode To The Mets” with Daria Zawiałow, which were released last March.
The track was written by Albert Hammond Jr, Axel Ellis, Jake Sinclair, Salvatore DeFilippis, and Sean Douglas. Produced by Jake Sinclair.
The accompanying music video was directed by Bobby Hanaford.- The band said of the song, “'Blurry Lights' is a dizzy song about trying to maintain composure while freaking out on psychedelics. It's mostly about the time I took mushrooms before going to the Van Gogh exhibit in Chicago - an experience I would not recommend, as the room was way too brightly lit to not notice and feel the presence of the hundred-or-so other people at the exhibit who, at the time, I was certain were all staring at me and knew I was on drugs. On top of that, the walls were swirling around with Starry Night and Van Gogh's various works, creating the perfect mix of dizziness, nausea, and overstimulation while coming up on shrooms. The lights were blurry as hell, and I wanted to go home.”
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They continued, “The Strokes have always been at the top of our list of musical influences, so for him to track on one of our songs was a total dream scenario. The vinyl record sleeve of “Is This It” that's been hanging in my living room since I was nineteen couldn't believe it either.”
Albert Hammond Jr said, “Jake Sinclair, Ax's producer, is a friend and he played me the track to see if I wanted to play some guitar on it. It's catchy and fun, so I was happy to jump in and add some parts and tones. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.”
Photo by Harry Bearrows - source : Apple Music
