The Alpha Couple spends some time apart in “Letter From a Motel.”

Track: “Letter From a Motel”
Album: Unreleased

“Letter From a Motel” is an Alpha Couple song, for whatever that is worth, though the detail of “three daughters” complicates that reality. The Alpha Couple very famously has no children, as you might know from a song with that name, but they also exist inside and outside time. There is not one clear Alpha Couple storyline apart from Tallahassee, which also conflicts with some of the older songs in small ways. Once upon a time I would have wanted to break down those differences here and to wonder about “true continuity” or something but as with a lot of other things, this is mostly about vibes.

Our narrator is in a motel, one assumes, and they receive a letter from a partner that includes a picture of their home. “I did not mean to say what I’m saying now // if we’re gonna talk about what intentions were” contains so much more than most lines and it really opens up the mind of the person we’re dealing with, here. We can extrapolate that this person has abandoned their family, which includes three daughters in this version of this couple, and we certainly feel for the person sending this letter. But there’s just enough here to wonder, what about these photos causes that person to feel like the windows are getting soft with heat and that going back threatens their stability? Are those just the lies we tell ourselves to cover our own bad decisions?