Jetlag’s new single ‘Wicked Tongue’ examines the period after a relationship has ended, when memory, guilt and self-doubt begin to overlap. Written following the collapse of frontman Simon Glancy’s relationship, the track focuses on nights used as a form of escape and the uncertainty that followed when parts of those nights could no longer be recalled clearly.
The song’s central concern is both heartbreak and the possibility of having caused harm without fully remembering how. Its artist replays conversations, questions his behaviour and attempts to reconstruct moments that have already become unreliable. That gives ‘Wicked Tongue’ a more complicated perspective than a straightforward breakup song, since responsibility remains present even when certainty doesn’t.
Musically, the single marks a shift from the brass-heavy arrangements of Jetlag’s debut release ‘Prozac Nation’. Here, layers of distorted guitar provide the main texture, supported by repetitive riffs and a steady rhythmic pulse. The production is dense, but the song remains strongly groove-led, balancing rock weight with a clear dancefloor influence.
Jetlag describe this approach as “Desert Glam Disco”, and the term broadly reflects the track’s combination of dry guitar tones, theatrical attitude and disco-informed movement. References to Queens of the Stone Age, T. Rex and Primal Scream are apparent, particularly in the low-slung riffs and the contrast between heavier verses and a more open chorus.
As a continuation of Jetlag’s developing sound, ‘Wicked Tongue’ is both accessible and thematically unsettled. Its strongest feature is the relationship between its introspective writing and an outwardly confident chorus.
The single doesn’t attempt to excuse the behaviour it describes or provide a simple conclusion. Instead, it remains with the discomfort of not knowing exactly what was said and recognising that uncertainty doesn’t remove responsibility.