Atwood Magazine is thrilled to present our Editor’s Picks column, crafted and curated by Editor-in-Chief Mitch Mosk. Each week, Mitch will showcase a selection of songs, albums, and artists that have captured his attention and heart. With so much outstanding music waiting to be discovered, all we need is an open mind and a willingness to listen. Through Editor’s Picks, we aim to highlight our music finds and present a varied collection of new and recent works.
This week's picks include Ax and the Hatchetmen, Savannah Conley, Henry Grace, Tough Cookie, Westside Cowboy, and Jane Leo!
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**“Hotel Room” by Ax and the Hatchetmen**
“So much to tell you,” Axel Ellis sings, passionately on the microphone, filled with urgency and heartbreak. “Holed up in this hotel room, can’t do the things I want to, I’ve been climbing the walls.” The moment envelops you like a fever dream of desire and unease—an honest expression that catches in your throat before you realize you’re singing along. “Hotel Room” is a unique indie rock outburst that is both captivating and profound: dynamic and thrilling, yet deeply human.
Beyond being an electrifying introduction to Ax and the Hatchetmen from Chicago, this track is exhilarating—a rush of longing and movement that remains heartfelt. The band doesn’t merely convey the sensation of distance; they embody it. The song begins in the midst of a conversation and maintains that grip, with its narrator caught between desire and dislocation. It’s charming, charged, and vibrantly alive—music that makes you cheer for the person on the other end of the line.
Formed in 2018, Ax and the Hatchetmen—made up of Axel Ellis (vocals, guitar), Sal Defilippis (guitar), Hunter Olshefke (bass), Nick Deputy (drums), Phil Pistone (trumpet), and Quinn Dolan (saxophone)—burst onto the scene from the Midwest with a sound that blends indie rock coolness with brass-infused soul. They have cultivated a dedicated following through their vibrant live performances, sold-out tours, and uplifting albums that echo inspirations from The Strokes to Hippo Campus. Produced by Jake Sinclair (Weezer, Panic! At The Disco), “Hotel Room” showcases their most cinematic qualities—filled with tenderness, restlessness, and emotional depth.
When the chorus kicks in, it ignites. Ellis stretches his voice to the limit, pouring his heart into each line while the drums and guitars swell alongside him in a feverish release of longing and commitment. “And I hate that you’re so far away, and I just wanna find myself in the middle of you,” he cries, his voice edged with desperation. It encapsulates the essence of someone trying to traverse the gap through melody—screaming their way across the distance. The band surges with him, their energy matching the ache in his voice. It’s raw, radiant catharsis—the kind that makes your heart race—and by the time it peaks, you feel just as breathless and consumed as he does.
“I hate that you’re so far away, and I just wanna find myself in the middle of you. I’m all tied up in the middle of you.”
“‘Hotel Room’ feels like a loop you can’t escape,” Axel Ellis shares with Atwood Magazine. “It aims to embody the mental struggle of being on the road, visiting many places without truly feeling at home in any of them. While it’s a privilege to travel for work, there’s always someone on your mind that you likely won’t see for a while. This is the thought we wanted to explore in the track. It’s refreshing to perform live as it expresses a sentiment we don’t often touch on in our other music. The song seeks to find comfort, even if it’s a home away from home.”
The emotional pulse resonates through each verse, “And I just can’t get used to not being right next to you…” as bright drums and jangly guitars pursue the bittersweet undercurrent of longing and distance. Ellis’ voice quivers with yearning, while the band’s vibrant instrumentation keeps the song buoyant, transforming pain into movement and sadness into melody.
Ellis, who debuted in acting this fall on the Amazon Original series The Runarounds, reflects candidly on the song’s emotional underpinnings: “’Hotel Room’ feels lonely. It encapsulates the harsh truth of being fortunate enough to travel for work: always having someone to miss. It’s about wishing you could call that person and lay out your thoughts, but what’s the use if you won’t be seeing them soon? It’s about wanting to be with the one who makes your heart race, yet not knowing when or where that might happen.”
That line—“
This week's Editor's Picks, curated by Mitch Mosk, highlights music from Ax and the Hatchetmen, Savannah Conley, Henry Grace, Tough Cookie, Westside Cowboy, and Jane Leo!
