THE FLATLINERS are delivering their second single "Souvenir" from the upcoming album "New Ruin", which will be released on August 5 via FAT WRECK, just in time for their 20th band anniversary. The new song impresses with another great chorus that is likely to stick in your head for days.
The link to the video for - Souvenir - is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdlgVFHEQE
"The mind is such a powerful thing - for better or worse - and this song comes directly from the deep pit that fear is capable of digging with its help," says frontman Chris Cresswell.
"If a moment of hesitation can send you into a downward spiral, if suddenly the smallest task seems insurmountable, if you find fear in a place where you least expect it, like a souvenir stuffed deep in a drawer, then you can either surrender to the situation and let it happen to you, or try your best to drive the fear away. 'Souvenir' is about finding stability, even when the ground beneath you seems to be crumbling away."
The quartet from Toronto will visit us live just in time for the release of the new record, and the following concerts are highly recommended, especially in light of the strong new songs!
THE FLATLINERS LIVE 2022
04.08.2022 Cologne - MTC Club
07.08.2022 Hamburg - Knust
08.08.2022 Tolmin (Slovenia) - Punk Rock Holiday 2022
09.08.2022 Munich - Strom
12.08.2022 Limburg - Tells Bells Festival 2022
13.08.2022 Berlin - SO36
About
The Flatliners:
When you play in a band for 20 years, you not only change yourself. The way you see the world and your place in it also changes. For the seasoned punks from Toronto, a new album means a new opportunity to re-examine the legacy they have represented up to this point and everything they will pass on about it. It is an imperfect legacy, but not without hope.
"This record presents us in an uncomfortable moment, where the world around us is collapsing, and we are striving to learn from it," says the singer and guitarist. "No one has to listen to us, but we at least want to try to be heard."
"New Ruin" is an adrenaline rush from a band that attacks outdated institutions and ideologies with pointed lyrics and their strongest songs to date. And with a ferocity that will surprise even long-time fans. From the monstrous, disharmonious hits that open the album to the de facto thesis paper "Heirloom", it becomes clear that THE FLATLINERS are angry in a way we have never heard from them before.
At the same time, they have never had such good control. Songs like "Performative Hours" and "Recoil", which Cresswell produced together with the rest of the band, boil with vibrant post-hardcore energy, while "Souvenir" and "Big Strum" offer a tighter aggression that immediately connects to the band's anthemic punk past. Recorded at Noble Street Studios in Toronto and at Genesis Sound with long-time friend and sound engineer Matt Snell, the album sounds both open and immediate, the cumulative effect of now two decades of shared performances. Cresswell says, as he took the reins: "When you've been around for 20 years and you no longer trust yourself..."
"New Ruin" was mastered by what Chris calls a "dream team" with Anton DeLost at the mixing desk and Blasting Room legend Jason Livermore. The record cleverly combines the pop ambitions of "Inviting Light" with an aggression that the band has only hinted at before, indulging in their grimmest tendencies. It is an approach that the songs - and the moment - demand. Take "Heirloom":
"It's a hate letter to the previous generation," says Cresswell. "All their brilliance and ingenuity have left our generation and future generations stranded, unable to afford the world we live in, with this enormous emotional and ecological toll. That is so demoralizing." But amidst the rubble of the modern hellscape, the band is not without hope. The album's closing track "Under A Dying Sun" offers its own version of comfort and redemption, bringing the crashing album to a close with a thoughtful grandeur that at least suggests a light at the end of the tunnel.
Perhaps it's because THE FLATLINERS had fun for the first time in a long time despite the dark themes. They produced themselves, recorded with friends, and played music together after being apart for nearly 600 days - the longest stretch since their founding in 2002. "New Ruin" is also the sound of a band rediscovering the joy of creating something meaningful together. Cresswell calls it a gift.
"There is another side to the negativity that can be heard on this record," he says, "it is also a strong time. There are so many people talking about things that should have been talked about a long time ago. That is a step in the right direction. Art and music can be a part of that. We all somehow messed it up, so we can try to fix it again. It’s not too late, but it’s almost too late. It’s almost too late."
