Painted Friends vicariously explores the powerful, destructive forces of jealousy and envy on “Cain Complex.”
The Detroit indie-rock duo of Jeremiah McWhorter (vocals, guitar, bass) and Mitch Crosby (drums) examines those fierce emotions through the biblical perspective of Cain on their dark new single.
“The Cain and Abel story is one of the deepest stories in all of literature, no matter what belief system you hold. Putting myself in Cain’s shoes for a song made me realize how easy it was, especially in the music scene today,” McWhorter said.
“It is very easy to feel jealous toward other musicians who appear to have ‘made it’ and here I am still struggling to make a dime with my songs, yet I put so much work and passion toward it.”
That passion comes alive as McWhorter sings alongside fiery electric guitar, bass and drums, “I was the first man / The oldest of sons / What I give away is much better than blood / The envy that filled me was sent from above / And the reason I’m standing is not due to love.”
“Jealousy and envy are similar to drugs in my opinion. They almost become like an addiction that once it takes hold, [it] can literally bring you to the point of murdering another person,” he said.
“It is a song that is toeing the line between being appropriate and inappropriate, but I wanted to allow myself to do that for at least one song. It felt and still feels necessary.”
I recently spoke to McWhorter and Crosby about their backgrounds, previous releases, passionate new single, Feb. 9 live show in Detroit and plans for 2024.
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