An exclusive first listen to "Subject One," a brand new track from Monroe Monroe

Fresh off winning a pricey EP recording session from Rocky Mountain Recorders at the Westword Music Showcase awards last month, Monroe Monroe has a lot of material just waiting to be recorded. One song, however, has already been cut. It's called "Subject One," and it sounds nothing like the band's previous material.

Normally we'd say that such a big shift in sound is a major gamble, but "Subject One" works. Damn, it's a huge song, but it remains minimalistic in comparison to some of Monroe Monroe's other stuff. And somehow, it sits well with the rest of the band's catalog. Monroe Monroe has yet to decide whether to release "Subject One" with the other as-yet-to-be-recorded songs from upcoming time at Rocky Mountain Recorders and also the Blasting Room, so only time will tell what happens to it.

"We got options, man," says Bella Abbatecola, on vocals and guitar for Monroe Monroe. "Before we won the EP, we started working on an album at the Blasting Room. And yes, that was going to be on it. I don't think we have an official plan now."

If "Subject One" doesn't make it onto Monroe Monroe's next release, it's because they have other great material that they've started playing live that's raring to go for a studio version -- including a track tentatively called "Love Language (Wild Hearts)," which the outfit plans to play on Monday, July 25, during its set opening for INXS at the Ogden.

Awash in guitar play and atmospherics, "Subject One" is a love song with a damn catchy chorus, packed with "woahs" and "ohs" perfect for a summer sing-along: "Whoa, we love her/And oh, we tell her/Whoa, we love her." The lush sound recalls Coldplay's "Speed of Sound," while Matt Morse's drum work on this studio version stamps and stomps as if it were a live show. In some ways, it's not what you'd expect from Monroe Monroe (also due at the Walnut Room with Jimmy Gnecco of Ours on Thursday, July 28), but it works, in a U2-grandeur sort of way.