Single Premiere: The Belle Curves, “Check Engine Light (Tape Version)”
New York singer-songwriter Delaney Hafener drops an alternate recording of a single from last year’s Watershed. Get an exclusive first listen here!
The Belle Curve’s “Check Engine Light (Tape Version)” single artwork.
On their 2022 release Watershed, the Belle Curves (consisting of Delaney Hafener and a revolving collection of musicians) presented a lively mix of Americana, ranging from roots rock to throwback and alt country to power-pop. Distorted electric guitars and fiddle happily coexist on the record, the varied styles anchored by Hafener’s cool, chill indie-rock vocal stylings.
The Long Island, New York act’s lead single, “Check Engine Light,” was a driving Southern rocker that captured the momentum and freedom of that most iconic of American experiences, a cross-country road trip. At the same time, the lyrics tell a more conflicted and nuanced story. Hafener says the song was inspired by a real-life drive taken in 2020, “experiencing a country whose inherent contradictions were becoming abundantly clear. I wanted to tell the story of that trip in a way that conveyed the joy and wonder of the experience while still capturing the disillusionment we felt.”
Now, the Belle Curves are gearing up to drop an alternate version of “Check Engine Light” on April 21, and we’re honored to give you an early glimpse of the track!
Delaney Hafener of The Belle Curves. Photo credit: Kelsey Sucena.
The contrast to the original song is dramatic. The propulsive pace and dirty guitars of the original gave listeners (as New Music Weekly describes it) “a sense of wanderlust that can only be achieved by a long drive with the windows down and a car stereo blasted to the max.”
The new take dials down the sound from brash rock ’n’ roll to a more easygoing, midtempo folky vibe complete with dobro and harmonica, as if we’ve left the highway to take a backroad winding between farms and undeveloped countryside. At this more contemplative pace, the lyrics come front and center: “I never saw a bigger sky, and I never stopped asking why…we drove from coast to coast…seeking, as do most, some authenticity.” The song calls to mind Simon and Garfunkel’s “America,” that feeling of observing our country from a distance while still feeling connected to others doing the same.
“We recorded this on a Sunday morning after three days spent tracking the bulk of the album,” Hafener says of this striking alternate version. “We got done sooner than expected, so while the mics were still up and the songs were still in our fingers, we turned on the tape machine and I put a capo on my old acoustic Guild guitar, and we re-imagined the song in a new key with a different energy. I really love creating multiple versions of a song; it stretches my producer muscles to fashion the same song in multiple styles and gives more life to the song.”
Listen to “Check Engine Light (Tape Version)” now!
Song Credits
Drums: Nick Balzano
Dobro: Pete Mancini
Lead vocal/bass/rhythm guitar/harmonica: Delaney Hafener
Lead guitar: Bill Hafener
Harmony vocal: Anne O’Rourke
Written and produced by Delaney Hafener
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Bill Hafener at Silo Recording in Brookhaven NY
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is a full-time marketing copywriter and the primary music journalist and social media publicist for Adventures in Americana. In addition to studying the guitar and songwriting, Carol’s additional creative side hustle is writing self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley!
