Hi Our Basement,
In contrast to the first two Victory Chimes singles (“Holiday,” “Conductor”) which are narratives, our new song, “New Mode” doesn’t tell a literal story but instead links together a series of images. It touches on the issues of identity, facing demons, death, rising to potential and new beginnings.
“New Mode” was written around this circular bassline. The wavelike feel inspired some of the water imagery in the lyrics that were written in a one stream of consciousness session. The perspective shifts from specific friends to a fictional character to myself.
It turned out to be the featured song on the record because, for me, it represents the overall vibe of our new album, When The Fog Rolls In. The visceral feeling driven by the low end – the song is a bit dirty but there’s something beautiful and hopeful there as well.
In a new mode / On a fine line, you will
With that heavy heart feel / Forever stealing the moments that make your mind
When the Fog Rolls In began at a writing retreat at the Banff Centre of Arts. The songs written there were very much inspired by the vast mountain landscape and unique energy that exists there – being one of the oldest settlements in North America.
The writing retreat in Banff was cut short by the pandemic, but we continued to write and record in my studio. We found it convenient with all the openings, closures and quarantines to mail ideas and recordings back and forth between my studio and co-producer, Alex Formosa’s studio. It was a different way to write and record but created a unique sound of this record – you can hear some of that isolation and solitude in these tunes as well. Those pandemic themes are definitely in the album; there’s worry and paranoia but also humour and absurdity. There’s also the joy of having a child and getting to spend a lockdown with a beautiful new family.
Thank you for listening,
Jeff Louch of Victory Chimes