Ryan McKinley is best known as a singer-guitarist in Toronto punk rockers Pkew Pkew Pkew, but he's taken an entirely different approach for a new solo venture. Based in Alberta since 2018, McKinley started recording dream pop as Moral Pleasures last year, and the project is set to release sophomore EP Sleepy Songs for Dying Loves on June 11.
Sleepy Songs for Dying Loves is the follow-up to Moral Pleasures' debut EP, Persepolis, released last December. In stark contrast to Pkew Pkew Pkew's fast and furious riffs, "Prospero" pairs fuzzed-out electric guitars with gentle acoustic strums, as McKinley's folksy, melodic croon plead sits in the centre.
On the new track, McKinley says, "'Prospero' is about control, time, and memory. You can cultivate long and meaningful relationships in your life, but at some point, you'll have to learn how to say goodbye to someone you love. You can't keep someone physically alive or healthy forever, but the place they hold in time and memory is a form of eternal life. When I wrote it, I was listening to a lot of Jeff Buckley. I can't sing like that, but I tried to capture some of the emotion that his songs always have."
Listen to "Prospero" below.
Sleepy Songs for Dying Loves is the follow-up to Moral Pleasures' debut EP, Persepolis, released last December. In stark contrast to Pkew Pkew Pkew's fast and furious riffs, "Prospero" pairs fuzzed-out electric guitars with gentle acoustic strums, as McKinley's folksy, melodic croon plead sits in the centre.
On the new track, McKinley says, "'Prospero' is about control, time, and memory. You can cultivate long and meaningful relationships in your life, but at some point, you'll have to learn how to say goodbye to someone you love. You can't keep someone physically alive or healthy forever, but the place they hold in time and memory is a form of eternal life. When I wrote it, I was listening to a lot of Jeff Buckley. I can't sing like that, but I tried to capture some of the emotion that his songs always have."
Listen to "Prospero" below.