Cassia start 2021 by treating us to their new ‘Powerlines’ EP, which features a brand new song in the shape of its title track. The EP is a sun-soaked collection which explores dealing with an uncertain future. Written between sunny Cape Town and Berlin mid-lockdown, the EP is filled with head-bopping grooves, big hooky choruses and introspective lyrical content. ‘Powerlines’ is the antidote we need in these times.
The ‘Powerlines’ EP is out now on digital formats, and a limited edition 10” turquoise vinyl will follow on February 5th. Both the vinyl and some exclusive new merch designs are available to pre-order here.
The new track ‘Powerlines’ is about escaping from your dependencies and finding a way of feeling free in our current world. Written during the first lockdown, ‘Powerlines’ came at a time when the band started struggling with the new situation not being that new anymore.
“It was just after things started to settle in and become ‘normal’, which really messed with our heads,” says frontman Rob Ellis. “Jake brought in the idea for ‘Powerlines’ based on his turbulent and supposedly dependent relationship with cigarettes. As we wrote the song, memories of when we all first started driving kept creeping into conversation; just messing about without a plan. It felt like that antidote we all needed. A song that you’d crank up in your car and just drive off to. That’s what ‘Powerlines’ is to us. Jake has since binned off the cigs.”
The song’s sense of uninhibited freedom resonates throughout its official video. Shot with a throwback aesthetic to the late ‘90s, it’s a celebration of carefree days. Even in mid-winter, what better way is there to escape the city than pulling down the convertible, pumping up some tunes and driving into the countryside with no destination in mind? Factor in a guitar-playing hitchhiker and a butter fingers moment with the camcorder, and you have a video that continues the playful escapism that Cassia demonstrated with ‘Don’t Make A Scene’.
“The video is a nod to those memories we had,” adds Rob. “It shows a bunch of mates without a plan enjoying their first taste of real freedom. We set the scene in the late ‘90s, as we all grew up with homemade VHS tapes, which evoke such nostalgia.”
Cassia’s music transports us to a brighter, warmer environment while their lyrics, inspired in part by some deep self-reflection, show how the band attempted to make sense of an uncertain future. They’re now inspiring their growing community of fans while also earning fresh critical acclaim and ongoing support at Radio 1.
2019 and 2020 proved to be hugely contrasting years for Cassia. Having previously been nominated for Best Live Act at the AIM Awards alongside IDLES and DMA’S, 2019 saw them embark upon an intensive run of touring. Their acclaimed live shows won new admirers wherever they went, from some of Europe’s biggest festivals to major headline shows in London, Manchester and beyond. And then with all touring postponed in 2020, Cassia made the most of a bad situation by taking the time to reflect on what they’d experienced: a time to also think ahead rather than merely function.
Last year also saw the band release the other tracks that are collected on this EP, including ‘Don’t Make A Scene’, which debuted as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record before being highlighted as Jack Saunders’ Midnight Drop on Radio 1. Having spent much of last year writing new material in Berlin, Cassia have already completed another EP which will follow later this year. They’ve also made significant progress on their eagerly anticipated second studio album