Two of the year's most anticipated albums are the self-titled debut by Brooklyn throwback popsters Cults and David Comes to Life, the epic new one from the Polaris-winning hardcore developers Fucked Up. Both hit the streets on Tuesday (June 7) and, in a simple twist of fate, have a lot more in common than a release date.
Recorded around the same time with engineer/producer Shane Stoneback, Cults singer Madeline Follin was actually invited to sing on David Comes to Life after Fucked Up guitarist/songwriter Mike Haliechuk heard some of her band's recordings.
"Basically, there were two days where we were finishing up our record and Fucked Up were coming into the studio," Follin explains in a recent Exclaim! interview. "We literally didn't sleep and worked until 10 a.m., and Mike was asleep on the couch in the lounge and heard our music and asked who we were. Then Shane asked me to come in and said Fucked Up wanted me to sing on a track. And I was like, 'Uhhh... okay!' I got really nervous and excited. So I went in there and said, 'What do you want me to do?' And Mike just said, 'I dunno, whatever. Something like what Damian does, I guess.'"
Follin says the experience was pretty daunting, considering she was new to the whole studio thing. Haliechuk asked her "to make up whatever melodies she wanted. They were very relaxed. I was in the other room shaking really bad, thinking, 'Oh my god, he's gonna hate this.'"
You can hear Follin's vocals in the song "Queen of Hearts," which is currently being tapped as a potential radio single for Fucked Up.
"The part she came up with was super poppy and the first time I heard it I thought, 'Oh man, they're gonna be freaked out by this,'" says Cults' guitarist/producer Brian Oblivion. "But the first time he heard it, Mike stood up and said, 'This is awesome. It's exactly what we wanted.'"
And according to Cults, it was exactly what they wanted too.
"We've been fans of that band for years, so this was kind of a dream come true," adds Oblivion. "So anything we could do to help them out is awesome."
Singing on Fucked Up's new album isn't the only collaboration Cults have lined up, though.
"We love collaborating," says Oblivion. "Madeline sang on a song for that band Dom, called 'Bowl Cut.' Then she sang on a song by her brother's band, Guards. And we have a track coming out on the new Red Hot compilation."
On top of that, Cults will be giving away a hip-hop-themed mixtape following the release of their album.
"We're working on it," says Oblivion. "I think we're going to take the songs on the record and flip them into more hip-hop-like beats on our end, then have Madeline re-sing some hooks and choruses. We've also got some cool up-and-coming rappers signed on to add to it."
Cults self-titled debut is due out Tuesday via In the Name Of/Columbia. They also will hit Toronto later this month for NXNE, as well as stop by Montreal. All the band's upcoming North American dates are below.
Tour dates:
6/7 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
6/9 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
6/10 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
6/11 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
6/12 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
6/13 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
6/15 Pittsburgh, PA -Brillobox
6/16 Buffalo, NY - Ninth Ward
6/17 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
6/18 Toronto, ON - Yonge Dundas Square
6/19 Montreal, QC - Il Motore
9/30-10/2 Asbury Park, NJ - ATP
Recorded around the same time with engineer/producer Shane Stoneback, Cults singer Madeline Follin was actually invited to sing on David Comes to Life after Fucked Up guitarist/songwriter Mike Haliechuk heard some of her band's recordings.
"Basically, there were two days where we were finishing up our record and Fucked Up were coming into the studio," Follin explains in a recent Exclaim! interview. "We literally didn't sleep and worked until 10 a.m., and Mike was asleep on the couch in the lounge and heard our music and asked who we were. Then Shane asked me to come in and said Fucked Up wanted me to sing on a track. And I was like, 'Uhhh... okay!' I got really nervous and excited. So I went in there and said, 'What do you want me to do?' And Mike just said, 'I dunno, whatever. Something like what Damian does, I guess.'"
Follin says the experience was pretty daunting, considering she was new to the whole studio thing. Haliechuk asked her "to make up whatever melodies she wanted. They were very relaxed. I was in the other room shaking really bad, thinking, 'Oh my god, he's gonna hate this.'"
You can hear Follin's vocals in the song "Queen of Hearts," which is currently being tapped as a potential radio single for Fucked Up.
"The part she came up with was super poppy and the first time I heard it I thought, 'Oh man, they're gonna be freaked out by this,'" says Cults' guitarist/producer Brian Oblivion. "But the first time he heard it, Mike stood up and said, 'This is awesome. It's exactly what we wanted.'"
And according to Cults, it was exactly what they wanted too.
"We've been fans of that band for years, so this was kind of a dream come true," adds Oblivion. "So anything we could do to help them out is awesome."
Singing on Fucked Up's new album isn't the only collaboration Cults have lined up, though.
"We love collaborating," says Oblivion. "Madeline sang on a song for that band Dom, called 'Bowl Cut.' Then she sang on a song by her brother's band, Guards. And we have a track coming out on the new Red Hot compilation."
On top of that, Cults will be giving away a hip-hop-themed mixtape following the release of their album.
"We're working on it," says Oblivion. "I think we're going to take the songs on the record and flip them into more hip-hop-like beats on our end, then have Madeline re-sing some hooks and choruses. We've also got some cool up-and-coming rappers signed on to add to it."
Cults self-titled debut is due out Tuesday via In the Name Of/Columbia. They also will hit Toronto later this month for NXNE, as well as stop by Montreal. All the band's upcoming North American dates are below.
Tour dates:
6/7 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
6/9 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
6/10 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
6/11 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
6/12 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
6/13 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
6/15 Pittsburgh, PA -Brillobox
6/16 Buffalo, NY - Ninth Ward
6/17 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
6/18 Toronto, ON - Yonge Dundas Square
6/19 Montreal, QC - Il Motore
9/30-10/2 Asbury Park, NJ - ATP
