Loneliness feels like a dog. And not just any dog—the dog chained to the post in a rainstorm, howling at the dark sky, with ears drenched, drooping like misunderstood verses. That’s the vibe “Surtees” captures with their latest single, “Dog House”, featuring Jxk where Sissy Green and Soph are on production-duty, who altogether engineer a sonic rain that soaks through your skin, leaving you cold but oddly warm at the same time. You feel exposed, but you’re not alone in it.
The song hits like a bad argument you can’t walk away from, mixing achingly human indie riffs with the spitfire echo of UK rap. Jxk’s chorus isn’t revolutionary in its lyricism, but the way it lands—melodic lines snaking through the spotlight just as you’re busy dodging metaphoric slams from Surtees’ talk-your-way-out-of-it rap verses? It feels right. It’s that feeling when you’re pacing back and forth, trying to sleep, but the argument is still playing in your head on repeat.
Surtees doesn’t throw punches; he throws glances. The kind of looks that dig deeper than words, turning expressive pauses into well-aimed sucker punches. He’s rapping over beats tight enough to trap your frustrations but laid back enough to remind you that part of fighting is the inevitability of losing your cool. Sissy Green and Soph deserve a nod here, too— they don’t just make beats, they make conversations. It’s like the producers are on the ropes, the beat sagging where it should shimmer, and then suddenly, boom—high-energy propulsion when the emotions boil over.
Strange, isn’t it? In a track about the “Dog House”, you end up feeling more human than you’d expect. Maybe it’s not about winning; maybe it’s about surviving the storm.
Then again, who are we really arguing with?
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