“With me all this shit begins, with me it’s suppose to end.”
If you’ve ever been stuck on an ex, Melbourne quintet Canary feel your pain. The band’s debut single Fickle Heart is one of many songs from Canary’s upcoming sophomore album I Am Lion. Frontman Matthew Kenneally was going through a breakup at the time allowing the record itself to become an audio representation of the fallout: an emotional, poisonous and profoundly melancholy one.
The group’s previously released singles Women’s Business and Here We Go both received their fair share of attention with the former charting on Hype Machine and the latter earning a spot rotation on Triple J.
Fickle Heart opens with a steady riff and dependable percussion and once Kenneally’s vocals glide effortlessly into the forefront of the melody the track begins to build momentum. If you were expecting an epic climactic chorus, however, you’d be waiting a long time. At around the 1:30 mark the band gives us an airy almost ethereal vocal performance – think hippie summer dresses and skipping through fields of wild flowers. It’s a complete juxtaposition of the lead singer’s anger and resentment towards his ex-partner, yet still manages to work.
I Am Lion is entirely self-produced by the indie pop group, and even mixed and mastered by their bassist, Isaac Barter. The album will be released on July 8 and will be followed up by an east coast tour in August, so be sure to keep up with their movements on Facebook.