Arkells embrace a range of influences on new album ‘Blink Once’

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This article was published 21/09/2021 (1840 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How do you write a song? Different artists have different processes, but there are also those who live to experiment.

“One of the luxuries of having made a bunch of records at this point is, why don’t we just try this?” Arkells singer Max Kerman said of their new album “Blink Once,” out Wednesday.

“It’ll be either amazing or it might fall on its face a little bit, but I like trying.”

The Hamilton indie rock tandem — which includes Kerman, guitarist Mike DeAngelis, keyboardist Anthony Carone, bass player Nick Dika and drummer Tim Oxford — loves to change it up, Kerman said, both musically and lyrically.

“Going into this album, I was kind of getting bored with myself,” Kerman said. “Also, I like to learn how other artists create music. There’s a good podcast called ‘Song Exploder’ and it consists of 12- to 15-minute episodes of how an artist wrote one song. They walk you through it and, whenever I listen to that, I realize there are so many ways to approach songwriting.

“I think the minute anybody becomes overly dogmatic about their approach is probably a sign that they’re going to run out of ideas at some point.”

This album release is a little unusual in that the band has already released five songs from “Blink Once,” ranging from their anthemic “You Can Get It,” which features L.A. singer K.Flay and begins with an almost atonal piano riff, to the euphoric stomping rhythmic drive of “All Roads” and the triumphant joys of “Years in the Making,” which was used during the recent Olympics; to the percussive gospel-Rolling Stones feel of “One Thing I Know.”

“I think this album will feel different than our previous records because the beginnings of songs came from different places,” Kerman said.

They had completed most of “Blink Once” in Los Angeles in the winter of 2019 and February 2020 with producers Tom Peyton and Ryan Spraker when the pandemic hit, so they made the finishing touches working from home in Hamilton.

One of the weightier tracks is “One Thing I Know,” an anthem of tolerance and acceptance.

“The song is about being OK with being yourself, however you happen to be born,” said Kerman. “I know a lot of people struggle with that because a lot of people aren’t happy with what they were born into or how they turned out, and there’s a burden that they carry.

“I love hearing Newfoundlanders talk to each other when they have a conversation, because they start talking a different language. And I love it because they’re ‘at home’ but, when they come to the big city, they kind of lose that and I think there’s a bit of shame there.

“It’s like they don’t want to reveal themselves to be from a smaller place. So, the lyric says, ‘Why did you lose your accent?’ It comes out with your old friends, they said you better mask it, you don’t want the big city laughing.’ But then the turnaround is, ‘if there’s one thing that you know, you’ve got to let your colours show.’”

That isn’t the only issue that “One Thing I Know” tackles.

“I was talking to some friends that had a really hard time coming out to their family and that always makes me so sad, too, because if you’re gay then that’s awesome,” Kerman said. “But I know that can be really hard, depending on what your family’s like.

“So the second verse goes, ‘So many nights I was acting, just to keep people from asking, then you said, ‘Baby, let’s go cruising, and we never left the back seat.’ So it’s two people making out and finally being able to be themselves with somebody, and then the hook is, ‘If there’s one thing I know, you’ve got to let your colours show.’

“I like the song because it’s talking about two distinct ideas or experiences, but they all kind of come from the same place, which is this idea of shame, but trying to be OK with who you are. That’s a new thing for me in terms of songwriting.”

Another new adventure for Arkells is featuring a guest so prominently on a track: the radio favourite “You Can Get It” with K.Flay.

“We’ve known her for maybe five years – she’s from L.A. – and she’s awesome,” says Kerman. “An amazing artist: really, really great energy, fun to be around. When she came to Toronto she had me up onstage and covered our song ‘Relentless.’

“That’s one of the fun things of being in L.A.; you can call somebody and say, ‘Hey, do you want to drop by and try some stuff out?’ We had the bed track and the first verse sort of together and then, in the afternoon, she wrote her verse. It kind of fit perfectly and it was fun for us to try something different.”

Although the song’s lyrics can be viewed as cynical, guitarist DeAngelis prefers another interpretation.

“We looked at it as being encouraging,” said DeAngelis. “I think the overarching sentiment of the world is probably a little more cynical that you can’t get what it is you want because there are always obstacles in your way. That’s how it speaks to me for sure.”

Kerman said he understands that in these times of social media overabundance, “it’s very easy to be discouraged if you’re spending too much time on Twitter or the internet and you’re seeing all the suffering and injustice surrounding you – it’s very easy to be down.

“But you can also look around and see, especially in your own neighbourhood, where someone is doing something that’s creative and inspiring, and say, ‘That’s what I need to move toward.’”

The most noticeable aspect of “Blink Once” is how much fuller the arrangements are in terms of the production.

From the opening strains of “Liberation” — which starts out with what keyboardist Carone calls “a Blade Runner synth-vibe” before exploding into a double-time rock feel — to the short string-driven vocal interlude finale of “What The Feeling Was Like (outro),” the 14 songs that comprise “Blink Once” show a progression from the “Rally Cry” or “Morning Report” discs, delving into new sonic territory that doesn’t compromise the usual buoyant optimism that Arkells fans have come to expect.

There are gospel-inspired flourishes in “Swing Swing Swing,” and the piano ballad “Strong” is the first time Arkells have released “a song that’s so stripped back in a way,” said Kerman of a tune dedicated as a tribute to a dear, departed friend.

Songs like “No Regrets” and “Nobody Gets Me Like You Do” are the emotional singalongs that will ultimately become concert staples once Arkells resume full touring duties but, otherwise, the familiar core and tone of profound, relationship-driven subject matter is as strong as ever.

Throughout our conversation, pop influences ranging from Adele to George Michael to Fatboy Slim and Sam Smith are mentioned, but it’s a surprise one that catches me off guard: Kanye West.

Kerman says Arkells like to keep their minds open.

“We want to write songs that people sing along and can relate to that aren’t so insular or mysterious, but there are so many artists that we listen to that have very left-of-centre production ideas,’” he said. “And we wonder, how can we combine that stuff?

“Kanye is always a very interesting reference for us because, even though we’re a rock band and he’s a rapper, he’s unafraid to pull from different genres and make this universal music that still feels really original.

“I think that’s what we’re always trying to chase and we’re always unimpressed enough with ourselves to ask, ‘OK, who can we learn from?’”

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Nick Krewen is a Toronto-based freelance contributor for the Star. Reach him via email: octopus@rogers.com