Empty Country - II CD

Sprawling, grandiose arrangements and compelling, unconventional song structures defined Joseph D’Agostino’s acclaimed work with Cymbals Eat Guitars – but he knows how to get to the point. The cagey, nervous energy of ‘Erlking’ showcases D’Agostino at his most concise – across its three-minute runtime, the song offers a vivid thesis statement on America’s unraveling in a sea of gun violence and political corruption. Direct rock songs such as this help contextualize and serve as flattering contrast to the tentpost epics that headline Empty Country II.

Speaking on the track, D’Agostino writes:

“‘Erlking’ takes its name from ‘Erlkönig’, Goethe’s famous poem depicting the death of a child stalked by a supernatural being. Though I wrote this song on the day of the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, the “20 kids” referenced are the Sandy Hook children. In the parallel version of the American dystopia I depict in Empty Country II, Erlkings are ultraterrestrial demons that stalk the innocent and infect the minds of men. These entities’ lives span eons. To them, the whole of our country’s pernicious history is as brief as a Chopin prelude or a TV jingle.  One short verse/ 13 Bars/ The force of 50 collapsing stars.”