Brooklyn-based chamber-rock group Peaceful Faces returns with “Doin’ It Wrong”, a quiet yet deeply affecting single that captures the mental weight of modern life through stripped-back intimacy and lyrical vulnerability. The track follows their recent release “Freee” and further cements the band’s emotionally intelligent, genre-blurring approach to songwriting.
Anchored by frontman Tree Palmedo’s bare, clear-eyed vocals and sharp lyrical introspection, “Doin’ It Wrong” opens in stark simplicity: a dry staccato guitar, no adornment, no reverb. Palmedo sings plainly: “I feel like I’m doing it wrong” – an unfiltered confession that sets the emotional tone. As the track unfolds, the arrangement gradually layers soft percussion, airy piano lines, and haunting brass textures, never overwhelming the song’s core sentiment but lifting it with warmth and restraint.
Collaborator John Cushing (trombone, backing vocals) adds depth and history to the song’s second half, offering a familiar voice amid a track built on disconnection and questioning. The result is a piece that feels lived-in, intimate, and strikingly relatable.
“This is a song about keeping up the hustle in an era when Covid and other specters still linger,” Palmedo shares. “It was written on the eve of the most significant breakup of my life. Can I still be going out to shows and meeting new folks when we’re all so anxious? Am I losing the game because I can’t pretend I’m okay?”
Though subdued in sound, “Doin’ It Wrong” hits with emotional force – the kind that sneaks up slowly, unfolds in your headphones, and leaves you thinking long after it ends. It’s a song for anyone quietly working through the question: How do we move forward when the world hasn’t really settled?
