On Oct. 15, contemporary folk duo Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover released “Fluorescent Light” as a single for their upcoming album dropping this Friday, What of Our Nature. This warm acoustic track is laden with straightforward commentary on consumerism and loss of humanity in our present-day social climate.

“Fluorescent Light” features simple, repetitive instrumentation: soft, spaced-out acoustic guitar alongside gentle, choppy percussion and the distinct sound of hands clapping. These plain sounds create that deeply human feeling you can only hear in acoustic folk. The personal and familiar atmosphere might make you imagine this song being played around a campfire, or sung casually by a group of friends in a cozy living room.

The overall theme of this track is the loss of a sort of deeper meaning and connection that humanity once had. Heynderickx’s rich voice runs like a smooth ribbon along the gently percussive instrumentation as she describes this abstract meaning as a light or a song that’s now absent from our lives, having been overtaken by artificiality:

“There was an ancient light/

There was an ancient song/

Now something isn’t right/

It’s the time of fluorescent light”

The melody remains in a simple loop for most of the track. A solid, unbroken rhythm carries it forward like a heartbeat even as Heynderickx chants about the most heartless of acts:

“They sold it as a bomb/

They sold it as self-protection/

While the innocent children run”

These descriptions of a violent and profit-driven system contrast with the human sound of the music. Heynderickx and Conover’s layered vocals gently croon about cruel, unfeeling tendencies of the institutions we live within. This disparity paints a profound picture of the rebellion it takes to remain human in a world that seems to grow more inhuman every day. The track concludes with a reminder that, sometimes, this rebellion can be as simple as walking away:

“I turn off my phone”