Philadelphia's Maneka shares a slice of life on new single "throwing ax"

In addition to past work in bands Speedy Ortiz and Grass is Green, Devin McKnight has long written his own music as Maneka, releasing his solo debut Is You Is in 2017. On 2022's Dark Matters, McKnight set out to explore the full range of his experiences as a studio and touring musician, delivering a striking, unclassifiable mesh of genre influence through which McKnight deftly explored the anxieties of working as a Black man in majority white indie rock spaces.

p: Juliette Boulay

On his 2025 follow-up, bathes and listens, McKnight focuses his vision on Maneka's musical identity, resulting in a more grounded album that still tests the extremes of McKnight's songwriting talent. Elements of shoegaze and slowcore are prominent, but engineer Alex Farrar's exceptional production (Wednesday, Snail Mail, MJ Lenderman) makes bathes and listens cohesive, yet still distinct from any one style.

"McKnight's songwriting sounds more purposeful than ever."
-Pitchfork, on Dark Matters

Maneka opens bathes and listens with a Pinback reminiscent verse on lead single "shallowing", alternating with heavy choruses before exploding with alarm-call guitar in the song's crashing coda. "shallowing's" huge ending sets up "dimelo", McKnight's crunched, faceripping ode to Carmelo Anthony (specifically Hoodie Melo). "dimelo" is urgent and instantly enthralling, completely swarmed by distortion, with only faint squeals passing through its shroud.

On second single "yung yeller", Maneka goes fully introspective, leaning into his signature sound of slowcore thrash and a sneaky melodic deep-bass vocal to reflect on the wide-eyed optimism and naive invincibility of teenage youth.

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watch the "Shallowing" and "Dimelo" double music video →
or listen to the songs on Amazon Music | Apple Music | Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Spotify | Tidal | Youtube

Recommended if you like: Duster, Pile, Enumclaw, Wednesday, Ovlov, Bartees Strange, Horse Jumper of Love, Dean Blunt, sneaky melodic, deep-bass slowcore

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On his latest single "throwing ax", Maneka describes the necessity of acceptance over denial before tumbling into a restrained, anfractuous guitar solo.

Of the new single, McKnight writes:

"There aren't a lot of actual lyrics to this song as it is sort of a little slice of life. I like when whole songs are just capturing the emotions of one moment in life without much other context. I think these types of tunes allow the listener to really connect since emotions are in larger part universal to the human experience.

The moment in question was when it suddenly hit me that I'd probably never see someone I really loved ever again and it gave me this sinking feeling in my stomach. The act of allowing hurtful information to hit you instead of shrouding yourself in denial can be painful however necessary it might be to your growth and survival. Sometimes this happens while you're on a date at an ax throwing bar. For me at that moment, the release and satisfaction I got when I freely tossed an ax into a piece of beckoning wood was surprisingly cathartic."