Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks Release New Single “Suicidal Valentine”
On the precipice of the pandemic, Cliff Cardinal was in a toxic relationship with cocaine. While stuck at home with nothing much to do, his contemporary life became the subject of the latest release from Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks, “Suicidal Valentine.”
Cardinal wrote the song while attempting to manage his fraught situation, creating the song of his addiction as a toxic relationship.
“I spent a lot of nights sleeping at the studio and resenting the world,” Cardinal explained. “Then COVID happened and offered freedom. The pandemic created an artificial cessation of drug abuse.”
In “Suicidal Valentine,” Clifford pours out his heart over guitar and drum beat that offer a fuzzy sound that matches the chaos of his mind at that stage of his life. The artist declares himself his lover’s sacrificial lamb through distorted vocals that display desperation.
“Oh touch me please
Only you can put me on my knees
Take me apart
Hurt me hurt me hurt me from the heart
Make it nice
Romance is fire and truth is ice ice ice
Say you’re mine and I’ll be your suicidal valentine”
This song serves as the title track of the Toronto-based band’s newest album, establishing a clear theme for the project, the work for which was started during the height of lockdowns.
“I wrote the songs ‘Suicidal Valentine,’ ‘Yellowknife,’ and ‘Your Dress’ at home and started sending the parts to the Sky-Larks,” Cardinal said. “The Sky-Larks were, I guess, pretty bored. But we were getting in the habit of ‘jamming’ from home from some online concert events, so we started sending tracks to our bandmate and producer, Justin McWilliams.”
While this was happening, the band grew tighter even if distances weren’t always as close. All of that emotion and then some are expressed on this record, and “Suicidal Valentine” is a bellwether for the project’s tone.
Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks, which also includes drummer Patrick Ferrigan, consider themselves to be genre-free, unwilling to let the bounds of one musical lane contain them. Honed by a hilarious and nefarious style, the band produces protest songs, love ballads, and existential raps through an Indigenous lens. Substance abuse, self-loathing, dark themes, and plenty of catchy hooks are rife within their music. “Suicidal Valentine” is no exception.
Cardinal is doing better now than he was when “Suicidal Valentine” outlined his regular mental state. Thankfully, his reliance on drugs is well past the stage of toxicity. But his story will resonate for those who have experienced or are experiencing a similar struggle.
Watch the video for “Suicidal Valentines” below and learn more about Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself?
I’m Cliff Cardinal, singer/songwriter for Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks. My band rules. We just put out our third album, Suicidal Valentine, on Merilainen Music. I think people should be more compassionate with one another, but also, I make a lot of crass jokes, so it can be hard to know where I’m coming from, which is Toronto. I’m married. My wife is really cool. What else…dog and a cat, but I want to get a hippopotamus. Just a baby one.
Tell us about the process of writing Suicidal Valentine. Did you ever doubt the things you were writing about might be too close to reveal to an audience?
When I wrote it, I didn’t know what I was writing about at the time. I was just trying to let it happen. Afterward, I saw the obsession and frantic momentum and thought it sounded pretty cool. What was scary and revealing was writing the press release. To be honest, though, I don’t yet understand the ramifications of putting my personal life out into the world. I’m kind of daft. Can you ask me again in six months?
What’s it like being a musician in Toronto?
It’s wonderful. I’ve been an aspiring musician for so long- and I guess I still am. It’s a total honor just to be one of the artists on the bill. The only bummer is that Toronto musicians make tons of money, so we have to hire increased security and pay more overhead. Plus it’s exhausting to be this cool. It would be easier to just live in Calgary. (Yeah, that’s a joke. Except for the diss to Calgary, that part’s real, haha)
Who was the first Canadian artist to blow you away?
Derek Miller. He’s angelic. He used to wear like a Reservoir Dogs suits and play a strat like an Ak-47 and sing his soul out. I believe he still sings his soul out. He heard my song STRIPPERS off our first album, and he said, “Cliff…fuck!” That nickname stuck for a couple of years. Cliff Fuck.
You’ve been making music for a while now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Love to express yourself. And pay your taxes. They don’t fuck around on that.
Connect with Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks:
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