CONTRIVED RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE, “GEMINI” WINTERSLEEP and HOLY FUCK MEMBERS & COLLABORATORS PREP FIRST ALBUM IN 16 YEARS
A fixture in the Canadian musical landscape for more than twenty years, CONTRIVED returns with “Gemini” – a brand new single available to stream and buy today.
Kicking off with a fuzzed-out bass line and sparse but shimmering guitar notes, “Gemini” explodes into a towering chorus. Intertwining spacey organs, booming drums, expertly crafted triple guitar arrangements, and vocalist Michael MacNeil’s unmistakable timbre, the single serves to announce the triumphant resurgence of one of Halifax’s most celebrated acts.
“Gemini” is the first glimpse into Addicted to Sadness, the band’s first full-length album in a decade and a half, set for release this fall.
Historically, Contrived has been a slow animal, albeit a very much alive one. The band — which features two founding members of Wintersleep and musicians who frequently collaborate and tour with, among many others, Holy Fuck, Billy Talent, and Matt Mays (heard here lending backing vocals and percussion to this newly released single) — regrouped over the last three years to incubate, write, and record a new album, their 4th LP and first since 2008’s Blank, Blank, Blank (Hand Drawn Dracula).
And while lyrically, “Gemini” is a goodbye (“the beauty of escape once achieved,” explains bassist Michael Bigelow), musically it is very much a hello, a return, and a driving of a tiny stake into the immediate present. It is a return to form and a testament to Contrived’s everlasting devotion to a sense of spirited urgency.
To celebrate the release of the new single, and to preview music from Addicted to Sadness, Contrived performs two shows in Ontario later this month.
Upcoming Shows:
May 23 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
May 25 – Hamilton, ON @ Mills Hardware