Toronto oddballs the Holy Gasp will return with a new album in early 2018, and the first listen has arrived with a brand new single titled "Beat Wave."
Blending "big band punk" and "orchestral hardcore," the new tune is a fun-sounding throwback that channels some serious B-52s vibes. It was the first song written for the upcoming record, but also the first song frontman Benjamin Hackman's wrote following a recent divorce.
In a statement about the song, he says:
When my wife and I split up, I needed to make an extreme lifestyle change. I moved out to Toronto Island and started work on a new record. I started with "Beat Wave." I was real depressed at the time. And real lonely, too. Most days I couldn't get out of bed. I'd lay there on my stinked-up sheets, weeping... wishing for my old life back... They were dark days indeed. I needed to write it out, to laugh at myself, and to take the edge off and find a way to cheer myself up. Divorce shocks the system bad, you know. It makes you ask a whole lotta questions about how you're gonna live your life and who you're gonna be in your post-married world. You set out to build a future with someone, and when you call it quits on a marriage, you call it quits on that future too. So you gotta rewrite yourself entirely.
Despite the extremely personal nature of the tune, Hackman enlisted the help of plenty of other musicians for the recording. He credits bandmate Sebastian Shinwell with being a major source of support, and expertly finding the perfect place for every contributor on the song — and there were a lot of them. Amongst the impressive 17 players on the track are Toronto music industry fixtures like Karen Ng, Jessica Upton-Crowe (Beliefs) and Nixon Boyd (Hollerado).
"Word on the street is if you play the track in reverse it gives you step-by-step instructions on how to brew your own kombucha," Hackman adds. "That may or may not be true."
Find out for yourself taking "Beat Wave" out for a spin below. Just scroll past the list of the Holy Gasp's upcoming live shows and hit play.
Tour dates:
11/14 Sherbrooke, QC – Bar Le Magog
11/15 Moncton, NB – Plan B
11/16 Halifax, NS – The Seahorse Tavern
11/17 St. John, NB – Pepper's Pub
11/23 Quebec City, QC –Le Cercle
11/24 Trois Rivieres, QC – Zenob
11/30 Ottawa, ON – House of Targ
12/02 Toronto, ON – The Smiling Buddha
12/07 Peterborough, ON - Catalina's
12/08 Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
12/09 Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge
Blending "big band punk" and "orchestral hardcore," the new tune is a fun-sounding throwback that channels some serious B-52s vibes. It was the first song written for the upcoming record, but also the first song frontman Benjamin Hackman's wrote following a recent divorce.
In a statement about the song, he says:
When my wife and I split up, I needed to make an extreme lifestyle change. I moved out to Toronto Island and started work on a new record. I started with "Beat Wave." I was real depressed at the time. And real lonely, too. Most days I couldn't get out of bed. I'd lay there on my stinked-up sheets, weeping... wishing for my old life back... They were dark days indeed. I needed to write it out, to laugh at myself, and to take the edge off and find a way to cheer myself up. Divorce shocks the system bad, you know. It makes you ask a whole lotta questions about how you're gonna live your life and who you're gonna be in your post-married world. You set out to build a future with someone, and when you call it quits on a marriage, you call it quits on that future too. So you gotta rewrite yourself entirely.
Despite the extremely personal nature of the tune, Hackman enlisted the help of plenty of other musicians for the recording. He credits bandmate Sebastian Shinwell with being a major source of support, and expertly finding the perfect place for every contributor on the song — and there were a lot of them. Amongst the impressive 17 players on the track are Toronto music industry fixtures like Karen Ng, Jessica Upton-Crowe (Beliefs) and Nixon Boyd (Hollerado).
"Word on the street is if you play the track in reverse it gives you step-by-step instructions on how to brew your own kombucha," Hackman adds. "That may or may not be true."
Find out for yourself taking "Beat Wave" out for a spin below. Just scroll past the list of the Holy Gasp's upcoming live shows and hit play.
Tour dates:
11/14 Sherbrooke, QC – Bar Le Magog
11/15 Moncton, NB – Plan B
11/16 Halifax, NS – The Seahorse Tavern
11/17 St. John, NB – Pepper's Pub
11/23 Quebec City, QC –Le Cercle
11/24 Trois Rivieres, QC – Zenob
11/30 Ottawa, ON – House of Targ
12/02 Toronto, ON – The Smiling Buddha
12/07 Peterborough, ON - Catalina's
12/08 Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
12/09 Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge