FEDERALE Releases New Single A STRANGE VICE via Jealous Butcher Records
Frontman Collin Hegna wrote the goth-pop track amid an eviction notice at his Revolver Studios in Portland.
Portland psych-rock band Federale has announced a new album, with the first single 'A Strange Vice' out now on Jealous Butcher Records.
A 30-day eviction notice appeared on the door of the studio where cinematic psych-rock band Federale records. Frontman and primary songwriter Collin Hegna stared at it for five minutes, picked up his guitar, wrote a song, and texted his bandmates to book a recording session.
That scene repeated itself multiple times over the course of a year, fueling a series of back-against-the-wall writing and recording sessions. Portland, Oregon's Revolver Studios wasn't just Federale's headquarters, it was Hegna's livelihood. He founded the studio, housed all of his recording gear there, and built much of his creative life within its walls. The uncertainty of losing both his workplace and his band's home base became intertwined with a broader sense of discord and confusion he sensed in the world.
The result is Love & Other Lies, the most immediate and personal album in the Portland band's seven-album oeuvre.
The single, A Strange Vice, is a haunting slice of goth-pop built around Hegna's richly expressive baritone, recalling iconic dark crooners like Peter Murphy and Dave Gahan. Garage rock grit and shimmering '80s new wave pulse through the track, culminating in a goth-rock anthem that is surprisingly buoyant—even danceable. The song reaches its climax with an expansive, atmospheric outro, the kind of hypnotic crescendo that has become a hallmark of Federale's live performances.
A Strange Vice also reconnects with Federale's cinematic roots. Loosely inspired by an amalgam of classic 1970s Giallo films—including The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key—the song channels the psychological tension and psychosexual undercurrents that define the genre. Its lyrics smolder with barely contained rage as the protagonist slowly unravels. He sings: Well there's a strange vice burning inside of me / There's a place in the dark, that's where you left your mark / Well there's a strange vice burning inside of me / But it's only a theater of pain burning a hole in your brain / And if you feel how I feel, then you feel like you're going insane.
Like most Federale songs, the lyrics remain intentionally open-ended, inviting listeners to project their own meaning onto the narrative. Yet, in a rare moment of song disclosure Hegna says: 'I was writing about my own rage, or perhaps outrage is more accurate. Outrage at the systems in the world that keep the rich rich and the poor poorer. Outrage at the political climate of the USA. Outrage at technology making skilled people obsolete. And most of all my realization that there's nothing I can do about any of it. Other than, of course, to express my own anger. That's why I say: 'There's a strange vice burning inside of me.''
Since being founded by Hegna in 2004, Federale has released seven cinematic records inspired by obscure spaghetti westerns, folk-based murder ballads, '60s and '70s European soundtracks, particularly the Italian horror movie genre Giallo, and stylishly dramatic vocalists such as Lee Hazelwood and Nick Cave.
Hegna is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, recording engineer, and sonic auteur. He has played bass with The Brian Jonestown Massacre since 2004. As the owner of Revolver Studios, he has produced and recorded artists including The Shivas, Roselit Bone, Jenny Don't & The Spurs, Joel Gion, Matthew J. Tow, and David J. He also oversaw the music for the Emmy-nominated Super Bowl commercial 'Halftime in America.'
Love & Other Lies teems with a dark sentimentality and a pronounced gloomy sensibility drawing from British new wave, post-punk, goth, and 1960s rock n' roll. Strains of The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tears for Fears, and even The Beatles abound. Hegna's emotive baritone is swathed in period-perfect Prophet-5 synthesizers and glistening counter-melody guitars lines, and supported by intricate but lyrical basslines and cold and mechanical drums.
Upcoming Live Dates
September 4th // Portland, OR // The Spare Room
September 12th // Everett, WA // Apex Ballroom
October 30th // Portland, OR // Kennedy School Theatre
October 31st // Portland, OR // Music Millenium
November 1st // Tacoma, WA // Spanish Ballroom
November 4th // Portland, OR // WK The Nest
November 6th // Seattle, WA // Baba Yaga Festival
November 20th // Portland, OR // Crystal Ballroom
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