Selflessly Selfish
Death is the final destination for us all, whether we like it or not, whether it scares us, or we welcome it with open arms. How we react to it can vary immensely depending on who has passed and what we felt about them. Like many things in life, it conjures up all manner of emotions, of fear, loneliness, anger, the ensuing emptiness, providing plenty of fuel to use music as a vehicle to express these feelings.
Our Canadian friends Selfish Things have been drip feeding us little treats over the years and now march into the arena armed with ‘Logos’ their debut full length album.
Garnering the support of their peers, on ‘Torn’ we have Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath, on ‘Blood’ we have Andy Leo of Crown The Empire and on ‘Drained’ we have William Ryan Key of Yellowcard, quite a gathering you might say, all adding their unique touch and sprinkle of stardust to accentuate an already admirable piece of work. The songs here address issues that many find upsetting and difficult but waving this record in the face of fear will indeed quell any uncertainty.
Singer Alex Biro tells of a familial situation that has touched many of us – the death of a loved one- you sit there helpless as this life dissipates, leaving behind a nothingness. Many artists write about personal issues, always have done and will continue to do so, I think however as fans we see them as other worldly, and we don’t realise they think, feel and suffer the same as us.
‘Rowen’ offers a puzzling sentiment in ‘ I still speak in tongues, but I never read’ and the emotive, minimalistic ‘Pride’ has the damning words ‘fortune is a race, they’ll cut your throat for second place’. I’m a sucker for a bit of piano and here it is in ‘Synaptic’ as the band highlight a modern day phenomenon of how ‘being a fake seems to be the whole purpose’. A love song incoming folks with ‘ Mind’ and a stunning piano piece with thoughtful and warming lyrics ‘if the world would just stop spinning, we could build a life and make it home’ utter bliss in shaping an idea and displaying it to everyone, a real heart on your sleeve moment, brave and true.
‘Youth’ offers the closer and it is an acoustic, it may sound unfinished but there’s a beauty about it. Polishing work to a high standard can hide flaws, but our flaws are what make us real. Put the kettle on and engage in a little exchanging of thoughts and meeting of the minds
Sometimes you can’t stem the flood my friends, you gotta let it bleed.
Selfish Things – Logos out now via Pure Noise Records