Showpony drifts into the ‘Darker Side’ on latest single.
There’s a version of ourselves we like to think we’ve outgrown — the one that spirals late at night, that reaches out when we shouldn’t, that stands at a door we promised not to open again. ‘Darker Side’ begins like a feeling you didn’t mean to follow: a glance, a shadow, a slow slip back into familiar chaos. With pulsing alt-rock urgency, Showpony turns that unraveling into something restless, raw, and brutally self-aware — and they’re only just getting started.
‘Darker Side’ doesn’t waste time easing in. It opens mid-motion, heavy bass pulsing like a heartbeat on edge. There’s no warm-up, no gentle entry — just immediate tension. The percussion snaps in without hesitation, and “Feelings changing, don’t know why / Gotta face you one more time” lands not as a soft reflection, but a collision. From the jump, Showpony builds a sound that feels both controlled and unrelenting, like slipping back into something you can’t justify, but can’t resist either.
There’s a duality running through the track that gives it weight — a push and pull between control and compulsion. It’s an emotionally charged dive into the pull of old patterns, late-night urges, and a version of yourself you swore you left behind but didn’t. That tension builds as the verses unfold like a kind of emotional surveillance, full of sideways glances and near-misses. The imagery is intimate and unsettling: peeking through doors, slipping down corridors, saving passwords you shouldn’t still know. It’s the sound of someone circling a version of themselves they know too well, caught in that hazy space between resistance and relapse.
Even as the lyrics dig deeper, the instrumentation keeps pushing forward. Written by the duo and produced by Tyler Lindsay of Showpony, the track balances emotional weight with momentum — sharp guitar riffs, relentless rhythm, and a vocal delivery that holds back just enough to let the tension breathe. There’s a thrill to how it moves: fast, urgent, but never messy. The alt-rock energy keeps the song from sinking into despair, instead channeling that chaos into motion. “It takes control / It won’t let go / Save my soul” isn’t just a lyric — it’s a gut-level cry.
By the time the final lines arrive, “I just called to say I hope you’re doing fine / I just called to say I wish I found a better place to hide…” feels like the emotional equivalent of dialing an old number just to hear it ring. These aren’t love notes. They’re confessions. Regret. Relapse. And the bitter realization that there’s no safe hiding place from your darker side.
Maybe that’s the point. “Darker Side” doesn’t chase closure; it lingers in the places we’d rather avoid, turning chaos into something almost cathartic. It’s not about resolution but recognition: the parts we keep circling back to, the shadows we think we’ve outgrown, and the quiet pull that still knows our name.
Showpony’s grip on emotional tension is as confident as it is understated, and this might be their most gripping release yet — the kind that makes their voice feel so distinct, even this early in their debut.
