With the Weakerthans firmly resting in the past, beloved frontman and purveyor of Can-rock poetry John K. Samson is set to release his second solo album later this fall. Ahead of Winter Wheat's arrival, Exclaim! is giving you an exclusive first listen to LP cut "Alpha Adept."
Samson describes the Christine Fellows- and Jason Tait-produced track as a "peculiar one" that hears his colleagues competing with each other to come up with the most ridiculous sci-fi sounds for the instrumental breakdown — a tactic that isn't too farfetched given that the song was partially inspired by Terminator 2.
Going into a deeper explanation behind "Alpha Adept," Samson shared a statement, which reads:
I wrote it as a sequel to the song before it on the record, "Quiz Night at Looky Lou's," partly because I felt bad abandoning that character where I left him, in a sports bar in Sioux Lookout, reading frightening meanings into things. One of the themes that runs through this record is delusional thinking, and how sometimes we need to learn to live with our delusions, accept them, in this case turn them into a useful reason to live. Especially if the only other option is to let them control and destroy us.
I was also interested in misinterpretations. For example, sometimes a misheard song lyric is better than the real lyric. In this case I imagine the protagonist reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, and thinking the mermaids at the end of the poem aren't going to sing for Prufrock because they are actually aliens from outer space delivering a message to him instead, letting him know they are going to return to Earth and take him away to a better place, where people aren't so cruel.
Hear those eclectic and imaginative influences translate into Samson's latest creative offering by giving "Alpha Adept" a spin in the player below.
That's where you'll also find a handful of upcoming live dates. Winter Wheat marks the solo follow-up to Samson's 2012 debut Provincial, and it's due out on October 21 through Anti-.
Tour dates:
11/04 Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Centre
11/05 Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Centre
11/08 Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
Samson describes the Christine Fellows- and Jason Tait-produced track as a "peculiar one" that hears his colleagues competing with each other to come up with the most ridiculous sci-fi sounds for the instrumental breakdown — a tactic that isn't too farfetched given that the song was partially inspired by Terminator 2.
Going into a deeper explanation behind "Alpha Adept," Samson shared a statement, which reads:
I wrote it as a sequel to the song before it on the record, "Quiz Night at Looky Lou's," partly because I felt bad abandoning that character where I left him, in a sports bar in Sioux Lookout, reading frightening meanings into things. One of the themes that runs through this record is delusional thinking, and how sometimes we need to learn to live with our delusions, accept them, in this case turn them into a useful reason to live. Especially if the only other option is to let them control and destroy us.
I was also interested in misinterpretations. For example, sometimes a misheard song lyric is better than the real lyric. In this case I imagine the protagonist reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, and thinking the mermaids at the end of the poem aren't going to sing for Prufrock because they are actually aliens from outer space delivering a message to him instead, letting him know they are going to return to Earth and take him away to a better place, where people aren't so cruel.
Hear those eclectic and imaginative influences translate into Samson's latest creative offering by giving "Alpha Adept" a spin in the player below.
That's where you'll also find a handful of upcoming live dates. Winter Wheat marks the solo follow-up to Samson's 2012 debut Provincial, and it's due out on October 21 through Anti-.
Tour dates:
11/04 Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Centre
11/05 Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Centre
11/08 Toronto, ON - The Mod Club