Canadian alt-rock band Mother Mother released their new album, Grief Chapter, on 16 February 2024. The band, known for going viral on TikTok a few years ago with their song Hayloft, have been evolving their sound since the early 2010s,
Their evolution and steady growth to have impacted their sound. Describing the album, frontman Ryan Guldemond says, “We’ve been playing the biggest stages of our career over the last few years, feeling more like a high energy rock band than we’ve ever felt.
“It’s natural, I think, that this charged frequency found its way into the record. In the studio, our instinct was to make things hit hard and feel powerful, and the band as a whole felt very honed to execute in this way.”
Mother Mother has amassed more than 6.9 billion streams worldwide and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Explode! showcases this heavier and more energetic feeling the band has honed, keeping the classic Mother Mother sound we are used to and injecting it with bass and deeper vocals. It is definitely one of the most memorable tracks from this album, although that is a difficult judgment to rule.
Guldemond said “This song is about the desire to live so fully that one becomes overzealous and manic about it”.
Days hides dark lyrics underneath an upbeat track. Guldemond worries about days that will take “take [him] down, down, down”.
Forever is just as dark with an other-worldly instrumental track backing the question, “if forever isn’t true, what do I do?”. Despite having a run time of more than five minutes, this song doesn’t feel as though it lasts forever; carefully crafted to tell a story of existential dread.
Normalize is buzzing with electricity and has a beat to keep you moving. Its chorus features a chorus you’ll want to raise a lighter to as you sway with the crowd.
God’s Plan is an alt-rock criticism on issues rampant today. Mother Mother question if everything is a part of God’s plan, then “what was he taking? Cocaine, but I don’t blame him”.
Grief Chapter ends with a track of the same name, strings lulling us toward the end of the story. This track effectively closes a chapter, whether that be one in the band’s personal life, or in their musical one, they sing that “everything is different now”.
The band stays true to its core values and sound but builds on it as it grows and becomes stronger. To round off, this album is Mother Mother at its core.
Features image credit: Mackenzie Walker
Fourth year student journalist studying Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Words at Brig, The Daily Evergreen, Alloa Advertiser, Discovery Music Scotland, and The Mourning Paper.
