If you want to hear how rock moves with the times, at least one strand of it, then giving the new one from Sarina a spin is a great learning curve. I mean, it’s a great song in its own right, of course, and no one makes music for academic reasons; it would take a strange mind to make something merely for future cultural historians to add to their TED talks, but ‘Hell has frozen over’ is a reminder that rock music, like all genres, is a constantly evolving exercise. This scorching single certainly sits at the cutting edge of where rock goes next.
If the art of moving things on is blending the fresh with the familiar, then this ticks the boxes, leaning into traditional rock’s sound whilst bringing something new to the table. It drives along on a poised alt-rock energy, echoes with an emo-esque darkness at times, and finds a buoyant dynamic in pop-punk’s punchy power plays. But more than that, it is addictive to the point that the mainstream realm is visible out of the corner of her eye. Not pop, obviously, but perhaps more pop-aware than it may seem.
But that’s music-making in the post-genre world: never lose touch with your roots, but understand that evolution, rather than revolution, is key. Bring the established rock fans with you and pick up a new following along the way rather than smash the whole thing down and start again.
Okay, rather ironically I have made this sound like an academic musing on what the future holds, but know this: ‘Hell has frozen over’ is a song that kicks ass, and that alone is the best reason to buy it.
