Siichaq details new album, The Righteous Sword

"Cattle Driver" arrives as Siichaq's first new music of the year, following her album CATCHER released last year, and 2024 debut My Dog Ate My Patriotism. The single draws on the doom metal, dark club music, and indie rock-inspired sound of her first album, and taps into the bleakness of the digital age.

"Cattle Driver is the culmination of my experiences growing up in a digital world and struggling to retain a sense of self or artistic individuality," Siichaq explains. "The internet can be a wonderful tool for community building and education, but it is also insidiously claiming more and more of our time, creativity, privacy, and attention. I see how powerful it is to have an online presence and following for musicians because of the current industry expectations, but I just have so many objections to the idea that art has to be qualified by how well it performs on the internet. Plus, I don’t have the personality to be a viral sensation."

The Righteous Sword sees Siichaq go deeper into the themes of identity, introspection and social examination explored with her previous work, addressing mental illness, her heritage, and generational trauma as she sought out connection as the only native person growing up in her North Florida community. Discussing the experience of finding a space to fit in online, she adds: "I also think that when industries of the arts become social media or trend driven, it creates an environment where originality suffers. I’ve been guilty of this in other projects by giving excessive consideration to what sound is doing ‘well’ online and, consciously or not, letting that influence my sensibilities."

The Righteous Sword artwork

The Righteous Sword tracklist