Exes Share New Single “Bones Break” off New Album

Photo Credit: Sarah Elly

Exes, named for their tendencies to write music about their exes, is made up of LA-based producer Mike Derenzo and New York-based frontwoman Allie McDonald. Rather than shying away from the stigma around artists writing about exes (hello, Taylor Swift), Derenzo and McDonald lean into it—fully embracing the act of writing songs about past breakups. Why not write about the people in your past who made you feel and left you feeling?

Exes released an EP in 2016, titled The Art of Saying Goodbye, that garnered attention from the likes of i-D and USA Today and have amassed millions of hits on Spotify. This year, they prepare to follow it with Before You Go — an album with eight tracks — on October 5th. To date, they’ve released three songs off the album, "Peckham,” “Bones Break,” and “Over.” In Before You Go, McDonald and Derenzo continue to write about past lovers, but use the theme to represent their own recent emotional journeys as well. They say the album was inspired by their feelings of hopelessness and lack of direction during difficult periods in their musical careers, which gives the songs a fascinating layer of double meaning. 

The songs are confessional and speak to intimate emotions, but they aren’t sad—McDonald’s airy vocals combining with the poppy, dreamy electronic background makes them not so depressing but just the right amount of bittersweet. In “Bones Break,” McDonald sings that she wishes an ex could just watch her bones break instead of breaking her heart, but it’s not a defeated song—she sings “someday I’ll be the one for you, when it’s too late.” It’s heartbroken, but in embracing that emotion, McDonald takes away some of its power.

Check out “Bones Break” here.

Track List:
Index
Arrival
Peckham
Everything
Before You Go
Bones Break
Talk
Over