Fuzzed-out, hook-driven double bass rock doesn't sound like the obvious vehicle for songs about empathy during political despair but Tower Defense has a long tradition of surprising combinations; particularly when it comes to combining earworms and political frustration. The Nashville quartet's two newest tracks are among their most pointed yet.

The last few years have been a slow-motion reckoning with how much can change, how fast, and how unevenly the weight of that change gets distributed. For Tower Defense, the immediacy of the most recent election shook loose a lyrical writer's block. Equal parts inspiration and frustration, these songs emerged out of the difficulty of what it costs to keep caring.

"Stop, I Think I've Heard This One Before" tackles losing people to disinformation and the particular exhaustion of interacting with a loved one you can no longer reach. This isn’t contempt, it’s genuine concern that they’ve permanently lost their grip on reality. Inversely, "Effects Are Temporary" is less patient, conjuring a reckoning around the human cost of political complacency. It refuses the comfort of "it’s only four more years" for anyone who doesn't have the luxury of waiting it out.

Together the tracks are about empathy: how hard it is to care about other people right now, and how much harder it gets when that feeling isn't returned.