Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP, is "O, Devilish Sailor" by Gibraltar, from the 2021 self-released album Modern Mischief.
It's been a few years since we last heard from Seattle post-rockers Gibraltar, but the trio return this March with the new full-length Modern Mischief. The album's first single features guest horn players Sari Breznau on trumpet, and Nate Henry on tenor sax, adding a soulful touch to the angular guitar and punchy percussion. In a statement to the Big Takeover, frontman and founding member Aaron Starkey shares the story behind the track:
“Lyrically, [“O Devilish Sailor”] is about feeling powerless with the decisions that our bodies make for us. I tried to, lyrically, have a conversation about the frustrations I have with my own body. The generation of the song though, musically, came from a challenge that [drummer] Nick [Biscardi] put forth to me about writing song ideas at home versus jamming in the rehearsal room.”
“My approach had always been to just get in a room and sweat it out, and he (strongly) suggested that I play around with ideas and structures on my own… and so the gauntlet was thrown and I dug in over a weekend and tried to compose more of the concept. What we ended up recording became far more than my modest home recording attempt, but I’m grateful for finally getting past the hurdle of how I’d been writing up to that point.”
Modern Mischief will be out digitally on March 22nd, with a physical product shipping out on or around March 26th.
