LES SHIRLEY GET LOUD AND PERSONAL ON HAIL MARY
After years spent taking their music from Montreal to stages across Canada and Europe, Les Shirley arrive at their third full-length album, Hail Mary, louder, bolder and with plenty on their minds. The official video for the album’s title track arrives alongside it, offering the first taste of just how far Les Shirley are willing to go this time around.
Made up of Raphaëlle Chouinard, Lisandre Bourdages and Sarah Dion, Les Shirley have been building toward this record since forming in 2018. Six European tours and shows alongside Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Weezer, Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, The Beaches and Avril Lavigne have cemented the trio’s reputation as a seasoned live band, and that experience runs throughout the album.
But Hail Mary isn’t only about volume. Les Shirley aren’t afraid to get personal, digging into patriarchy and women’s rights, queer identity, toxic relationships, fear, love, anger and lust. As women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, they draw from their own experiences while tackling issues that extend far beyond themselves, blurring the line between the deeply personal and the world around them. Anger and frustration collide with vulnerability, humour and desire, but even at its heaviest, Hail Mary is built to bring people together rather than weigh them down.
Nowhere is that more obvious than on the title track. “Hail Mary” takes direct aim at patriarchy, inequality and entitlement, pushing back against the expectation that women should stay quiet and play nice. It’s provocative without becoming heavy-handed, pairing its message with the sense of humour and irreverence that runs throughout the band’s music.
The accompanying video takes that same spirit in a visual direction, leaning into the song’s defiance while giving Les Shirley plenty of room to have some fun with it.
There’s plenty to unpack on Hail Mary, but Les Shirley never forgets that a great rock record still needs to make you want to turn it up. That combination of substance, personality and pure rock-and-roll instinct is what carries the album from beginning to end.
Les Shirley will celebrate the release of Hail Mary with an official album release show at Théâtre Plaza on November 19 as part of M for Montreal.