IST IST returns with "Obligations," a taste of an offering taken out of a sense of responsibility rather than theatricality. Co-written by Adam Houghton, Andy Keating, Joel Kay, and Mat Peters, and produced by Joseph Cross, the track is a secret closely held, one that doesn't hurry to reach its end.
"Obligations" is about a notion of love that's heavier than romance. Through the coherence of Adam Houghton's writing, connection is a sanctuary and a destruction at once. It represents both refuge and ruin, the tension of being attached to someone who rescues you even as they destroy you. It is only love, not as freedom, but as your responsibility, for something to be borne and carried, lived with despite the pain.
The quartet band, consisting of Houghton (Vocals/Guitar), Peters (Guitar), Keating (Bass), and Kay (Drums), keeps the track centered, giving space for the emotional narrative to prevail. There's a patience to the song that reflects the way memory operates, slow and unyielding. "Obligations" works exactly because it accepts damage, and there is recognition that survival often requires becoming something else, transformed by loss, molded by pain, but still there. It is a picture of strength that feels more authentic than triumphant.
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