Washington, DC-based trio Flowers For The Dead have released their new single, “Ladybug.”
The trio’s first new music since summer 2025’s First Place EP, “Ladybug” is a grunge-tinged, shoegaze-y track helpfully grounded by the addition of new bassist, Naomi Seat, to the established line-up of singer and guitarist Jessie Szego and drummer Ten Bears.
“After a few months of continuous writer’s block and the departure of our former bassist, we really felt a huge energy shift within our own personal lives that I think led to the writing and formation of ‘Ladybug’,” says Jessie Szego. “I think you can hear that energy shift in the music; new beginnings, a fresh start, and the beginning of a huge creative spark for us.”
The instrumentation is minimal, but no less effective. This isn’t a song that’s here to take up a ton of space, but rather uses its empty space as an effective echo. The use of Jessie Szego’s echoing spoken-word lament during the bridge of “it’s all wrong/where’s the sex appeal?/there’s no inherent truth” really pokes fun at a criticism that has been made of the band by others in the alternative scene, proving that Flowers For The Dead don’t care and aren’t planning on changing the shape of what they do just so appeal to others. Softness isn’t weakness, and the trio coming out swinging on this track right after a big line-up change is absolute proof of that.
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