“The Crow” is one of those rare singles that feels deliberately out of time, yet deeply present. Released by ARN-IDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND ALIEN FRIENDS, the track draws on classic songwriting forms while pushing its emotional weight into darker, more unsettling territory. It is not a nostalgic exercise. It is a song that uses the past as a language for something painfully human and immediate.
The artist behind the project, known as Alien Friend, has long worked in spaces where power pop, folk, indie rock, and americana intersect. His previous releases, including the double album co-produced by David Myhr of The Merrymakers and the 2023 full-length No Sweets for E, established a voice that is heartfelt, poetic, sometimes ironic, but always honest. “The Crow” continues that tradition, but with a sharper emotional edge. While his forthcoming 2026 album will explore more folk-based and experimental directions, this track stands alone, echoing the americana feel of his earlier work.
From the first moments, “The Crow” announces its intentions through restraint and pacing. Built on a Bolero-like rhythm, the song moves with a slow, deliberate pulse that creates a sense of inevitability. The arrangement is carefully shaped to heighten drama without tipping into excess. Sugary background vocals float behind the lead, while strings and an English horn enter at emotional peaks, adding a cinematic weight that feels both grand and mournful. Every element is placed to serve the mood.
The songwriter has described the piece as feeling like a rewriting of an old Roy Orbison tune, though unintentional. That influence is audible in the sweeping gestures and melodic phrasing, but “The Crow” does not stop at romantic melancholia. Where Orbison often dwelled in heartbreak and longing, this song steps further into solitude and emotional desolation. The imagery is stark: loneliness is framed through the unsettling picture of a crow feeding on the dead. It is a metaphor that refuses comfort, pushing the listener to confront isolation not as something poetic, but something raw and unavoidable.
That lyrical severity is matched by the performance. There is no attempt to soften the edges of the narrative. The song unfolds as a quiet reckoning, its emotional power coming not from volume but from focus. The background vocals, provided by David Myhr and Stefan Petersson of Mother James, add warmth and contrast, surrounding the lead with a kind of ghostly harmony that deepens the sense of emotional distance. Meanwhile, the drums, performed by internationally respected Andreas Quincy Dahlbäck, are subtle but essential, anchoring the track with steady, understated motion.
What makes “The Crow” especially compelling is its balance between tradition and risk. The structure and orchestration recall classic songwriting, yet the emotional language feels braver and more severe than most retro-leaning work. There is no winking irony here, no attempt to dress darkness in nostalgia. Instead, Alien Friend uses familiar musical forms to carry something heavier, something that lingers long after the final note fades.
In the broader context of ARN-IDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND ALIEN FRIENDS, this single feels like a quiet pivot. It does not point directly toward the more Swedish folk-influenced direction promised for the next album, but it shows an artist unafraid to isolate a song when it demands its own space. “The Crow” exists on its own terms, neither a throwback nor a teaser, but a fully realized statement.
Ultimately, “The Crow” is a study in emotional precision. It is dramatic without being theatrical, dark without becoming hollow. By combining classic melodic sensibilities with stark, contemporary honesty, ARN-IDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND ALIEN FRIENDS deliver a song that feels both timeless and unsettlingly close to home. It is a reminder that sometimes the most powerful music is not what comforts us, but what dares to sit with us in the quiet.
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