Songs about mixed feelings usually put a slash or an ampersand between them. Master Peace sets the two words of “Love Hate” side by side with nothing dividing them, and the single works the same way, with both feelings occupying the same stretch of song at once.
The London artist made the track with pop singer-songwriter Thomas Day, and the pairing carries it. Day supplies the smooth, melodic vocal, Master Peace brings the rough edge he’s built his sound on, and the two voices weave through each other over electric guitars and big, booming drums. Even the softest moments have that weight pushing behind them.
The blend is why the song lands. Loving and resenting the same person seldom happens in tidy alternating sections, and “Love Hate” respects that by letting Day’s sweetness and Master Peace’s grit hit at the same moment. The guitars and drums keep the tension physical, so the feeling arrives as a rush of sound before anyone has to explain it.
“Love Hate” is Master Peace’s first release since the Stupid Kids EP, whose standout “My Guitar” landed the cover of Spotify’s The New Alt playlist. Next up is a London headline show at Heaven, the club beneath the arches at Charing Cross, on October 28, and this is a song built for a room like that, where a whole crowd can shout both halves of the title in one breath.
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