It seems like the whole world is going mad. Social media has polarized society by placing people in different realities based on usage algorithms. Certain politicians are gaming the system for their own enrichment and inflicting maximal damage on the rest of the world. Certain corners of the Christian church have swung so far to the political right that they are now empowering the most anti-Christlike leaders.  A so-called "Board of Peace" is effectively ruling over a section of the Middle East and planning unprovoked wars on its perceived enemies and those unfortunate nations which it chooses to bully and exploit. According to The Guardian, the greatest military superpower in human history is informing its troops that the "president of peace" has supposedly been "anointed by Jesus" to "light the signal fire" for Armageddon. Meanwhile, paramilitary forces in the "land of the free" are snatching people off the streets and shipping them to a growing network of domestic and foreign concentration camps. What the hell?!

From this perspective, our new song "What Fresh Hell" is about the sense of despair that so many people are feeling when they read the daily news. We feel it too. Sometimes, apocalypse feels inevitable and we just want to get it over with. Nevertheless, we continue to hold out hope that our better angels will prevail and that humanity can still be saved. In the meantime, we weep for the next generation which will have the monumental task of rebuilding the world from the scorched earth which the previous generation has left behind (rapture pun intended).

Check out our new single: "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (see links below). Not all of our songs are autobiographical, and this one is a cover, but it hits close to home on several levels.

The year was 1999 when our lead singer first heard this tune on the radio in Great Britain. Smartphones and Shazam didn’t exist back then, but he learned from a fellow traveller that it was by a band called Manic Street Preachers. As luck would have it, he managed to catch one of their outdoor concerts before returning to Canada with this song forever etched on his mind.

He later became a teacher and part time history professor. Anytime the topic of the Spanish civil war came up, this song would emerge from his subconscious. The title of the song was based on the headline from a propaganda poster produced by Spanish resistance forces which stood in opposition to Franco’s military rebels. This propaganda campaign inspired Welsh volunteers to support the Spanish resistance, and Manic Street Preachers (being a Welsh band) were inspired to write a song about it some sixty years later.

These days, the song has taken on new meaning. Society has become increasingly polarized, with talk of civil war once again emerging from the United States in response to the extreme ideologies and conspiracy theories espoused by its political leaders. Post-pandemic society seems at times to have abandoned civility and goodwill in favour of aggression and dominance. The religious right, rather than praying and enacting “thy kingdom come” seems hellbent on triggering an apocalypse. It occurs to us that this is not what Jesus meant when he taught his disciples to pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” and to forgive others with the same measure that they wish to be forgiven.

And then there’s the war within. How many of us tolerate our own personal flaws and habits to the detriment of those around us? How many of us ignore our health and the health of our relationships — including our relationships with people, work, substances, possessions, and technology? How many of us fail to take action in the little things within our control whether due to fear, neglect, or willful ignorance of the truth? The problems that we fail to address in our own lives become the inheritance of the next generation.

If you tolerate this, your children will be next.

Available now everywhere music is sold and streamed:

https://music.apple.com/.../if-you-tolerate.../1727146191

https://open.spotify.com/track/6nd9vNpw16h0CHcH1ulGkt...

https://music.amazon.co.uk/albums/B0CT287WSP...

https://youtu.be/mIFugEx2vLg?si=oZoFaMbCLAC8TH0M

Next month, our fourth studio album drops, titled "Far From Home." This one is inspired by recent events in our personal lives. As our closest supporters will know, most of our band members are children, the youngest of whom is an ongoing patient of SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. The cover art and opening track ("Runaround") for this next release is inspired by his resilience, mischievousness, energy, and ambition. He is always smiling, dreaming big, and reaching for the stars.

Most of the other songs are inspired by the heaviness that we all experienced during the height of the pandemic, especially our friends and family members whose relationships ended in breakup or divorce. Life is hard, and it's okay to sing about the tough stuff. After all, even the Psalms have their moments of anger, darkness, and despair.

If that sounds relatable, then we hope that this album makes you feel seen and a little less far from home.

We've been tinkering with a piano ballad cover of the Foo Fighters' 1997 hit song "My Hero" for a little over a year now, not knowing that the release would come so soon on the heels of Taylor Hawkins' death. For those who don't follow the Foos, Taylor was their longtime drummer and the best friend of lead singer and songwriter Dave Grohl. We can't imagine the pain that the band members and their families are feeling right now. All we know is that we do not want to give the appearance that we are trying to profit off of this tragedy, so we are donating all of our earnings from this single to humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees in memory of Taylor Hawkins. #restinpeace #inlovingmemory #taylorhawkins #foofighters #davegrohl #rebelprophets #ukrainecrisis #humanitarianrelief