Deep Dive: River Westin – Call Off The Hounds

We fell hard for the reverb-heavy , Technicolour melodrama of River Westin’s Call Off The Hounds. Cinematic and smouldering, fans of The Neighbourhood, Lana Del Rey, and Cults will love everything from the southern gothic arrangement to the quiet heartache of the vocals.  We spoke to Westin about the song as part of our Deep Dive series.

Genesis of the song and lyrics

Call Off The Hounds was written about my healing journey this past year. The lyrics describe how you can only run from your fears and inner demons for so long before your body forces you to confront them and how that often leads to the greatest healing and emotional freedom.

That moment of surrender is described in the lyrics as a desperate plea to stop the chase and how our fears can often become our greatest teachers. As a part of the LGBTQ community, I think we often suppress our emotions to keep ourselves safe while growing up and this song is about letting go of that trauma so your authentic self can shine.

Instrumentation and recording

I wrote and recorded the track in my little home studio like I do all my records! I love spending time alone on weekends just playing around with the vocals and writing.

Making the video

I had a lot of fun playing with AI for the first time with the lyric video for Call Off The Hounds. I used Bing AI to create the images in this comic style I was looking for to bring the story of the track to life. I then used Adobe generative fill to expand the images further and Pika to even turn some of the images into video…it was quite a little art experiment and honestly didn’t save much time when all was said and done!

Where does Call Off The Hounds fit within your wider body of work?

I’ve always kind of created nostalgic, retro influenced pop music with a bit of a dreaminess to it and I think this track sits nicely along my recent releases that have been leaning into a bit of a grungier nineties vibe.

What are you up to in the coming months?

I have a collaboration I’m really looking forward to releasing in Spring and hopefully many more singles throughout the year!

Call Off The Hounds is out now and can be streamed on all major platforms including Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.  You can also pick up copies of Westin’s recent album The Honeymoon Suite in vinyl format over at his store. Get to know Westin better over on his Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok channels.