Selfish Hearts
{{Infobox song
| name = Selfish Hearts
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Billy Howerdel
| album = What Normal Was
| released = {{Start date|2022|05|27}}
| recorded = 2021
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Alternative rock, synth pop
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=50}}
| label = BMG
| writer = Billy Howerdel
| producer = Billy Howerdel
| prev_title = Poison Flowers
| prev_year = 2022
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"Selfish Hearts" is a song by American rock musician Billy Howerdel. It was a single off of his solo studio album What Normal Was.
Background
"Selfish Hearts" is a song from Billy Howerdel's solo album What Normal Was.{{cite web | url=https://www.theprp.com/2022/05/26/news/billy-howerdel-premieres-new-track-selfish-hearts-vowws-added-to-his-summer-tour/ | title=Billy Howerdel Premieres New Track "Selfish Hearts", Vowws Added to His Summer Tour | date=26 May 2022 }} It was released on May 27, 2022, ahead of the album's June 10 release date.{{cite web | url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/billy-howerdel-releases-video-for-brand-new-single-selfish-hearts | title=Billy Howerdel releases video for brand new single Selfish Hearts | date=27 May 2022 }} The song was the fourth released prior to the album's release in a campaign of releasing a song a week leading up to the album's release, with prior songs being "Poison Flowers", "Free and Weightless", "Beautiful Mistake".{{cite web | url=https://www.kerrang.com/a-perfect-circles-billy-howerdel-releases-captivating-new-single-selfish-hearts | title=A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel releases captivating new single… }} Howerdel noted that, despite trying out many various track list orderings over the course of the creation process of the What Normal Was album, he always chose "Selfish Hearts" as the album opener.{{cite web | url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/a_perfect_circles_billy_howerdel_releases_new_single_selfish_hearts.html | title=A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel Releases New Single 'Selfish Hearts' }} He explained that the song's sound and relatively short run-time was the best way to illustrate that What Normal Was was a very different sounding album than his work with A Perfect Circle or even his prior solo album Keep Telling Myself Its Alright.{{cite web | url=https://music.mxdwn.com/2022/07/12/features/mxdwn-interview-billy-howerdel-draws-from-past-musical-inspirations-on-his-debut-solo-release-an-exciting-new-direction-from-the-seasoned-artist/ | title=MXDWN Interview: Billy Howerdel Draws from Past Musical Inspirations on his Debut Solo Release, an Exciting New Direction from the Seasoned Artist. - | date=12 July 2022 }}
Themes and composition
Revolver described the song as a "gothy synth-pop tune with smokey plumes of keyboards, a skittering drum machine beat and a sonorous vocal delivery."{{cite web | url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/perfect-circles-billy-howerdel-hear-haunting-new-solo-song-selfish-hearts | title=A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel: Hear Haunting New Solo Song "Selfish Hearts" | date=26 May 2022 }} The prominence and "eerie" sound of the synthesizers in the song lead publications to compare its sound to the work of Depeche Mode{{cite web | url=http://www.melodic.net/album/billy-howerdel-what-normal-was | title=Melodic Net - We Rock, do you? }} and David Bowie.{{cite web | url=https://music.mxdwn.com/2022/06/21/reviews/album-review-billy-howerdel-what-normal-was/ | title=Album Review: Billy Howerdel – What Normal Was - | date=21 June 2022 }}
Reception
Kerrang named it the standout track of the album, citing "its fusion of symphonic, electronic and industrial instrumentation and captivating hooks yields a movingly inventive experience".{{cite web | url=https://www.kerrang.com/album-review-billy-howerdel-what-normal-was | title=Album review: Billy Howerdel – What Normal Was }}
Personnel
- Billy Howerdel – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard
- Josh Freese – drums