Vancouver-based folk stalwarts the Fugitives have shared their sixth studio album No Help Coming via Fallen Tree Records today.
As core members and songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn make their return for the new project, Carley Frey (violin) and Chris Suen (banjo) have added themselves to the ranks. Vancouver producer Tom Dobrzanski helmed the album.
It's been almost three years since they shared their JUNO-nominated LP Trench Songs, but the quartet were far from idle during the interim. Instead, they spent time taking what they learned from studying soldier music from World War I for Trench Songs and applying it to a collection of songs tackling climate change — from a uniquely humorous angle.
"All the reading we did around climate lacked this kind of playfulness," McLeod said in a press conference. "Part of that is the seriousness of the topic, but another part seemed like a lack of immediacy. That society doesn't feel, or talk, or act like we're in it."
No Help Coming acts as a direct response to the urgency of the climate crisis, with each of the project's 13 songs reminding the listener of the issue. They don't mince words either — songs like the title track, "Impending Doom," "Dead Money" and "It Might Just Rain Like This for Days" all get straight to the point from their ominous names to doomsday lyricism.
"Leading up to the recording, we asked environmental experts what was missing from the conversation," McLeod explained in a statement. "And they all said the same thing: 'No more sad songs. We know the world's messed up.'"
Listen to the Fugitives' unique musical take on climate change below.
As core members and songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn make their return for the new project, Carley Frey (violin) and Chris Suen (banjo) have added themselves to the ranks. Vancouver producer Tom Dobrzanski helmed the album.
It's been almost three years since they shared their JUNO-nominated LP Trench Songs, but the quartet were far from idle during the interim. Instead, they spent time taking what they learned from studying soldier music from World War I for Trench Songs and applying it to a collection of songs tackling climate change — from a uniquely humorous angle.
"All the reading we did around climate lacked this kind of playfulness," McLeod said in a press conference. "Part of that is the seriousness of the topic, but another part seemed like a lack of immediacy. That society doesn't feel, or talk, or act like we're in it."
No Help Coming acts as a direct response to the urgency of the climate crisis, with each of the project's 13 songs reminding the listener of the issue. They don't mince words either — songs like the title track, "Impending Doom," "Dead Money" and "It Might Just Rain Like This for Days" all get straight to the point from their ominous names to doomsday lyricism.
"Leading up to the recording, we asked environmental experts what was missing from the conversation," McLeod explained in a statement. "And they all said the same thing: 'No more sad songs. We know the world's messed up.'"
Listen to the Fugitives' unique musical take on climate change below.
