IN CONCERT
What: Wintersleep with Partner
Where: Capital Ballroom, 858 Yates St.
When: Saturday, April 27, 9 p.m. (doors at 8)
Tickets: $23.50 Lyle鈥檚 Place and
Wintersleep didn鈥檛 consider itself a band until 2005, when a string of successes 鈥� including a tour with Pearl Jam 鈥� made the group of three years finally feel at home in the studio and on the road.
What initially began in 2002 as a side project for some of its members has since taken shape as one of the country鈥檚 best rock bands, with a Juno Award win and a succession of notable singles (Weighty Ghost and Amerika among them) now in their set.
Time has brightened Wintersleep鈥檚 professional outlook, but not its view on the world. In the Land Of, the band鈥檚 seventh album, finds singer-guitarist-lyricist Paul Murphy exploring the crevices of the world as it pertains to land, both the ownership of it and lack thereof.
鈥淚 was examining places and our attachment to them 鈥� ownership of something that is not something meant to be owned 鈥� a little bit more closely,鈥� Murphy said Wednesday from a tour stop in Kelowna. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about where you exist and your relationship to that.鈥�
Murphy, keyboardist Jon Samuel, drummer Loel Campbell, guitarist Tim D鈥檈on, and bassist Chris Bell have explored out-of-body and inner-mind matters on previous records, including 2007鈥檚 Welcome to the Night Sky and 2010鈥檚 New Inheritors, 鈥渂ut it was a little more vague,鈥� Murphy said.
The new North America, under the black cloud of Donald Trump, has given Murphy more pause on the band鈥檚 new album, released March 29.
鈥淐anada has its own sordid history as well, so a new song like Beneficiary [which talks of war, violence, and genocide] connected that to my direct surroundings.鈥�
Murphy wrote from a safer distance on 2007鈥檚 Welcome to the Night Sky, even though some of his first-person writing bordered on morbid. 鈥淎re you some kind of medicine man? Cut the demons out of my head,鈥� Murphy sang on Weighty Ghost, the band鈥檚 most prominent hit. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 kill something that鈥檚 already dead, just leave my soul alone.鈥�
He went darker and more personal on new song Terror, on which Murphy wrote from the narrative perspective of a drone flying toward a bomb strike. He was inspired to write the song after seeing an Instagram art project by James Bridle, whose work zeroed in on aerial maps of land demolished by drone strikes. 鈥淭he idea of drone warfare is something that freaks me out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a new frontier, a new form of war and terror.鈥�
Wintersleep is in a reflective mood, having just re-issued its first three albums on vinyl. The group sat in on remastering sessions and artwork meetings (with original designer and founding member, Jud Haynes) to update and expand the original releases.
Murphy said he was struck by how inexperienced he was during the first few albums from the group. 鈥淚t was a trip to go back and listen to stuff you鈥檇 done 15 years ago. My voice is deeper on the older records, which is hilarious. I don鈥檛 really understand what happened. I don鈥檛 know why I was signing like that, because I don鈥檛 have that kind of tone now.鈥�
He鈥檚 proud of what Wintersleep accomplished from their home base in Halifax, after starting out an independent entity. D鈥檈on and Murphy grew up near each other in Yarmouth, N.S., but it was their move to Halifax that solidified the core that went on to open shows for the Tragically Hip and step into prime-time on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Listening back to their early recordings, Murphy wonders how any of it happened in the first place. 鈥淭here is definitely something unique about our early records,鈥� he said with a laugh. 鈥淚 think we were just trying to find our way through the recording process, and you can kind of sense that on the first couple of records. We have definitely developed as a band, in terms of performance. We鈥檙e more confident as a band.鈥�
With members now spread across three provinces 鈥� Murphy and Samuel live in Halifax, Campbell lives in Montreal, D鈥檈on lives in Quebec City, and Bell lives in Grimsby, Ont. 鈥� tours and recording sessions are some of the few instances the group members hang out with each other.
Time has not dulled their fondness for being a group, Murphy said. 鈥淚t feels like we have a lot more tools now. Within our records, we got to a lot of different places. The first couple of records were intensified as one particular vibe. Now, we鈥檙e a more complete picture.鈥�
