STRANGE PAINS WRESTLES WITH IDENTITY ON SHIMMERING NEW SINGLE “LUCIFER DISGUISED”

Photo Credit: Matt Cosby

There's something strange about looking at yourself and not entirely recognizing the person looking back. Ted Bradley taps into that uncomfortable feeling on "Lucifer Disguised," the new single from his project Strange Pains, out today alongside the announcement of the new LP The Diamond District I.

Bradley, also a member of Empty Country, began writing the track the morning after moving to Providence. After seeing the There Were Wires reunion at AS220 the night before, he found himself thinking about identity and how we change over time.

"I was thinking about identity and the way it accumulates and sheds," Bradley explains. "And how sometimes you don't relate to yourself. There's something funny and unsettling about that."

Musically, Strange Pains surrounds those uneasy thoughts with something considerably brighter. "Lucifer Disguised" pairs shimmering guitars, towering hooks, and an expansive arrangement with lyrics intentionally left open to interpretation. Bradley writes in the second person, creating a sense of separation that only deepens the song's strange examination of the self.

That same approach carries into The Diamond District I, produced, engineered, and mixed by Joseph D'Agostino of Cymbals Eat Guitars and Empty Country. The album favors big arrangements and equally big hooks while allowing its lyrics to resist any single fixed meaning.

"Lucifer Disguised" is a strong first glimpse into that world, finding something beautiful in the weird realization that sometimes even your own identity can feel unfamiliar.

"Lucifer Disguised" is out now. Strange Pains' The Diamond District I arrives October 16.

Camino
Memory Man
Boomerang
Triple Over Time
Special Thing
Lucifer Disguised
Outside Today
Walking with Yves
Soon and So On