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about this album
Pain Is Power is the fourth single from Patriarchy’s album Manual For Dying, released on August 22, 2025. Produced by Twin Shadow, it serves as the last in a string of singles leading into the album, which followed on September 19, 2025. The song was written during the birth of frontperson Actually Huizenga’s baby, Winter Aurelius—who also appears as the single’s cover star—making it one of the project’s most visceral and personal works. Drawing from the physical and emotional intensity of childbirth, the track equates the agony of labor with the ecstasy of losing yourself on the dancefloor. Lyrics like “welcome to the party / destroy your body” take on a double meaning, while the song’s structure mirrors the rhythm of contractions—pulsing, tightening, and breaking open—meant to be felt in the body as much as it is heard. Pain Is Power also incorporates recordings of Winter screaming with joy in the studio, processed through vocal effects to heighten its chaotic energy. At its core, the track isn’t just about surviving pain, but about how pain transforms and empowers, a theme that carries through into Manual For Dying. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
