Party Nails – “Trigger Warning” [Song Review]

Party Nails, the brainchild of singer-songwriter and producer Elana Carroll, releases her new single, “Trigger Warning,” a track from her upcoming third album, Pillow Talk, set for release in January 2025.

Originally from Chatham, New York, Carroll was a guitar-toting tween who played at open mics, recording herself at home with Garageband. In 2015, Party Nails debuted “Break” on Neon Gold’s famed blog.

In 2017, she set off on her first tour with PVRIS and Lights. In 2020, Party Nails wrote “Rockin’ on the Rag,” a song about period pride, for Loren Bouchard’s Apple animated series Central Park. Along with features in elite media outlets, her music has appeared in movies and television: Glass, Girls, The L Word: Generation Q, Nancy Drew, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

At her recording studio, Top Coat, in Los Angeles, Party Nails records, produces, and mixes for other artists as well as her own projects.

Party Nails, photo by Naz Massaro

“Trigger Warning” opens on a tight drum shuffle topped by noir-electro-pop tones flowing into a dark, fateful melody radiating elements of synthwave energy. Party Nails’ wickedly haunting vocals imbue the lyrics with auras of injury and pain, perseverance and triumph generated by an abusive relationship. A shadow-filled, lysergic bridge gives the tune the eerie sensation of divergent emotions colliding.

There’s a potent emotional and physical pull to “Trigger Warning,” visceral and dreamy, melting into a Phantom of the Opera sensibility.

Run Time: 4:34
Release Date: December 4, 2024
Record Label: Eye Knee Records

Tour Dates (supporting Bad Bad Hats):

Jan 04 Davenport IA at Raccoon Motel
Jan 05 Kansas City MO at Record Bar
Jan 07 Albuquerque NM at Launchpad
Jan 08 Phoenix AZ at Valley Bar
Jan 09 Los Angeles CA at The Echo
Jan 10 San Francisco CA at Bottom of the Hill
Jan 11 Sacramento CA venue TBA
Jan 12 Bend OR at Volcanic Theatre Pub
Jan 14 Baker City OR at Churchill School
Jan 15 Tacoma WA at Elks Temple (Spanish Ballroom)
Jan 16 Seattle WA at Barboza
Jan 17 Portland OR at Mission Theatre
Jan 18 Boise ID at Neurolux
Jan 19 Salt Lake City UT at Kilby Court
Jan 21 Cheyenne WY at The Lincoln
Jan 22 Denver CO at Lost Lake Lounge
Jan 23 Colorado Spring at Vultures
Jan 24 Omaha NE at Reverb Lounge