Standout Track: “Every Little Bit Hurts,” a sturdy piece of powerpop in the Stiff Records mold. “Oh the damage you can do/When my neck’s exposed to you/The heat that you feel when your fiction is real/Cannot turn me ’round,” sings John Davis. It’s the kind of thing Elvis Costello might have written during the late ’70s, back when he was still pissed off.

Musical Motivation: The track was inspired by a breakup—but not a romantic one. “Every Little Bit Hurts” was among the first songs that Davis wrote when he knew that his former band, Georgie James, was coming to an unhappy close. “Both songs on the single are born out of how I was feeling as that band was ending,” he says. “They’re mostly conveying invective, but I feel good after hearing them. It’s, you know, catharsis,” says Davis. “They help me to be less angry.”

Solo Sessions: At first, Davis envisioned Title Tracks as a solo project, with him handling all of the instruments—drums, bass, guitar, keyboards—himself. For this first single, however, he recorded with the Title Tracks live band—which includes every member of Georgie James except singer Laura Burhenn. “[T]he band was great,” says Davis. “So, I thought, let’s just do that.” On subsequent recordings, Davis will indulge his inner Todd Rundgren. “I can play all of those instruments, so why not do it?” he says.