February 21, 2025 – Following their dynamic debut this past fall, alt rock band The Yagas has released their new single “She’s Walking Down” along with its official music video, directed by frontwoman Vera Farmiga. On “She’s Walking Down,” the independent quintet – also featuring Renn Hawkey of Deadsy (keys), Jason Bowman (drums), Mark Visconti (guitar) and Mike Davis (bass) – make brilliant use of vocoder-enhanced vocals, pummeling guitar riffs, and viscerally chilling effects to fully immerse the listener in a brutal but exhilarating tale of violence and vengeance. PRESS HERE to download/stream the single. The track’s hauntingly beautiful music video – the first piece of art directed by the Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress in 15 years – depicts a dark dream that Farmiga repeatedly had about her young daughter in peril, set against a soundscape of unbridled rage and trauma. It’s a story of escape, self-defense, despair, telepathy, empathy, and the many things that cause a parent’s biggest fears. PRESS HERE to watch the video for “She’s Walking Down.” “I’d been reading a lot about child trafficking, which eventually entered my dreamscape,” shares Farmiga. “As a way to work out my fear, I decided to write a song where the protagonist from those nightmares turns the tables on her abuser and finally puts an end to everything.” The Yagas introduced their elaborate sonic world last fall with their powerful debut single “The Crying Room.” The song sets Farmiga’s beguiling vocals against a backdrop of serpentine guitar riffs, moody synth lines, and tempestuous rhythms supplied by Bowman and Davis. Paired with a darkly enchanting video co-starring Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz (also of Ukrainian descent), the primally cathartic track was partly inspired by the horrors endured by Farmiga’s extended family since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. PRESS HERE to listen and watch the official music video for “The Crying Room,” which has amassed over 1.2 million YouTube views and over 1 million Spotify streams, and has earned The Yagas early praise with Classic Rock Magazine hailing “The Crying Room” as “something of a prog metal beast, big on atmosphere, epic of scale and stout of heart” and Rock Cellar Magazine declaring it a “powerful introductory statement.” The New York-based band will be making their live debut on Saturday, March 8th at Assembly in Kingston near their Upstate home. The all-ages show will feature opening sets from ROSEGOLD and The Hedons. Tickets are on sale now – PRESS HERE to purchase. An audacious band with otherworldly origins, The Yagas borrowed their name from the mystical Slavic folklore figure Baba Yaga, believed to devour the souls of the newly deceased to safeguard the fountains of life. The newly formed five-piece wholly share their namesake’s storied penchant for shapeshifting, morphing from metal to industrial to wildly extravagant alt-rock as their songs journey into the strangest depths of the human psyche. As shown on “The Crying Room” and “She’s Walking Down,” The Yagas embody a potent duality of shadow and light, ferocity and tenderness. Formed in 2023, The Yagas took shape after its five members met at Rock Academy (a Woodstock-based music school run by Bowman) and began playing together in the school’s adult program, discovering an undeniable musical chemistry. Not only an echo of their music’s emotional complexity, The Yagas’ similarly wondrous multidimensionality has much to do with Farmiga and Hawkey’s divergent musical backgrounds. When matched with the restlessly inventive yet highly sophisticated musicality of Visconti, Davis, and Bowman – all lifelong musicians with decades of experience and an affinity for genre-bending experimentation – the result is a truly singular aural experience, endlessly unpredictable but infinitely propelled by the spellbinding force of Farmiga’s vocal work. The Yagas, who have already received comparisons to A Perfect Circle, The Cure, and Type O Negative, will release their debut album, produced by Hawkey, this spring. Details on the album to be announced soon. |
