Cries of Redemption x sriracha – “Torn”

“Torn” goes the other way. Cries of Redemption and guitarist Billy “sriracha” Babcock put together something with actual grit to it, and the difference is audible from the first few seconds.

sriracha handles both guitar and bass on this one, and also engineered the track. That combination matters because the recording has a rawness that most modern rock productions deliberately polish out. The guitars have texture. The bass has presence. Nothing here sounds like it was smoothed over to hit a target demographic, and that’s genuinely refreshing.

Maria Duque handles vocals, and she holds her own against some busy instrumental work without overshadowing it. Her voice has a directness to it that fits the mood of the song well. She also appeared on “This Is What It Feels Like“, so if you know that track, you already have a sense of what she brings to a recording.

The song digs into the tension between opposing sides of yourself, the pull between honesty and the easier version of things. It’s familiar territory, but the execution keeps it from getting abstract or overwrought. The writing stays grounded. Honestly, this is one of the stronger things COR has put out, and I’d be happy to hear more recordings built around this kind of organic approach. Go back and listen to their earlier material if you haven’t already. It’s worth your time. Follow them wherever you stream music.