And yet, evidence of a stubborn refusal to play it safe abounds, most notably in the East Coast-bred, Toronto-based rock squad’s eponymous, electrifying new disc, The Trews. It tallies so many firsts that even band members Colin MacDonald, John-Angus MacDonald, Sean Dalton and Jack Syperek cop to being a smidge flabbergasted by their own achievements, 14 Top 10 Canadian radio singles (including two #1s) notwithstanding.
There is, first and foremost, the assured manner in which it was written (through the lens of real life), underwritten (by fan support) and recorded (super-fast alongside marquee producer Gavin Brown). Guests bring flourish – witness Serena Ryder’s smoky vocals on ‘In the Morning,’ a contemplative almost-ballad with lyrics co-written by singer/guitarist Colin MacDonald and his pal, songwriting dynamo Simon Wilcox and buoyed by cellist Anne Bourne’s melancholic accompaniment.
Add in the fact that of late the Trews have been piling up the accolades touring acoustically despite being certified rock brawlers and the net result is something you just don’t see every day: proverbial old dogs issuing some seriously new tricks.
“I think with every record, you are kind of re-applying for the job,” chuckles guitarist John-Angus MacDonald. “There are so many bands out there, so many good ones, the fact that we get to keep going is a privilege. And as much as you get better and wiser with your craft, you still have to be ear-to-the-ground competitive. There is pressure in that.”
There are also wicked-cool rewards in that, none greater than the Trews’ daring and wildly successful PledgeMusic campaign which offered their loyal fans coveted and highly unique access to the band and its recording process in exchange for financial backing.
Everything from Skype chats to drum lessons, lifetime guest list privileges to adding vocals and hand-claps in-studio to songs like ‘New King,’ ‘The Sentimentalist,’ ‘Age of Miracles,’ and ‘Under The Sun’ was snatched up by supporters during the roughly year-long PledgeMusic drive.
“It was so much fun bringing fans into the studio, putting 20 people around a microphone,” Colin MacDonald enthuses. “This whole campaign was a great way to have an even deeper connection with the people who have been supporting us all these years.”
Adds John-Angus MacDonald, “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have some trepidation at the onset. But it was all about the fan experience. We got to tailor those pledges to what we thought our fans might like, and at the end of it, we got to make a record for fans while giving them access they couldn’t possibly have had otherwise.”
Of course, the whole PledgeMusic exercise would be academic if the Trews weren’t making freaking phenomenal rock and roll full of the hairpin stylistic turns you’d expect from four guys who’ve been playing together daily pretty much all their adult lives.
Take the new album’s blazing first single, ‘What's Fair Is Fair’ which Colin MacDonald describes as “A song I wrote about a relationship falling apart. Sometimes when you cross a line you can't come back.”
And then there is the quaking, spit-drenched ‘New King,’ a biting indictment of bullies on digital pulpits. “We were pissed off and we wrote a song about it. I mean, if you can’t use your rock and roll to tell somebody to go shove it,” John-Angus MacDonald howls, “what the hell good is it?”
At the other end of the sonic spectrum is ‘65 Roses,’ a song inspired by former Trews booking agent Paul Gourlie, who succumbed to Cystic Fibrosis last May at age 37. It is, says John-Angus MacDonald, an illustration of the band feeling comfortable turning the volume down thanks to their acoustic touring, and an example of the impact producer Gavin Brown (see Metric, the Tragically Hip, Billy Talent) had on the new disc.
“The song ‘65 Roses’ was originally presented as an upbeat and rollicking song but the subject matter is quite sad,” the guitarist confirms. “Gavin was really insistent on that song being played as an acoustic number without drums. He saw us performing at Paul’s memorial and I don’t think he would even consider it being anything else.”
Indeed, Brown brought a whole new way of working to bear when he gathered with the Trews – including long-time keyboardist Jeff Heisholt - last fall in their rehearsal space for pre-production before moving the show to Toronto’s Noble Street Studios for “a concentrated two-and-half week session with some additional recording in November, mixing in December and mastering in January,” Colin MacDonald recalls.
“Gavin takes awesome bands and makes them awesome-r,” the singer cracks playfully. “And I think with our band, self-production would be a one-way ticket to divorce. We all respect each other but it’s always good to have that sounding board. Gavin is a giant personality who works quickly with such precision. So we entered that orbit and it made for a really interesting time. I’d do it again tomorrow.”
“For us, working quickly is a function of having our material together,” John-Angus adds, noting that the group amassed some 30 songs between January and May 2013 despite all members “doing a lot of other things. Life was being lived, we were traveling, but I think that fed the writing.
“From there we went about arranging it and making it sound great in the studio which, in my opinion, is much easier than songwriting. With Hope & Ruin” – the Trews’ chart-topping 2011 release cut with Hip bassist Gord Sinclair – “we were writing and recording at the same time and that record took seven months. Taking a kind of church and state approach to writing and recording this time worked really well.”
“I think we are getting better at pinpointing when a song is good and when it’s not,” Colin MacDonald says. “That’s what happens when you make five albums and tour all the time – you can tell a timeless idea from one that rocks hard but gets old fast. If I have to sing these songs 200 nights a year,” he smiles, doubtless envisioning the Trews’ itinerary for the foreseeable, “I want them to be good.”
Sweetness
The Trews Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wanderlust to kill the pain
You thought my love would save your soul
You feel apart you left me cold
What was sweet is now a sour taste... oh yeah
What was love now is laid to waste.... oh yeah
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back to me?
Your wine soaked cries and cocaine lies
The broken dreams in your bloodshot eyes
I pine for you
I need you so
I fall apart when you go
Distilled in the driving rain.. oh yeah
When you gonna come back again ..oh yeah yeah yeah
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back to me?
Without the will or know-how, where will you go now?
Without the will or know-how, where will you go now?
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back
When are you comin' back to me?
To me? To me?
The Trews's song Sweetness tells a story of a girl with wanderlust who runs away to kill the pain. She thought that the love of the singer would save her soul, but she fell apart and left him cold. The sweetness between them turned into a sour taste, and their love was laid to waste. The singer misses her and couldn't function when she's not around. He tells her that her wine-soaked cries and cocaine lies only lead to broken dreams in her bloodshot eyes, but he still pines for her and needs her.
The driving rain is distilled, metaphorically representing the singer's distilled love and longing for the girl. He asks when she's coming back to him, repeating the word "Sweetness" three times to emphasize the depth of their connection. The song ends with a poignant question, "Without the will or know-how, where will you go now?" indicating the girl's lostness and the singer's longing to rescue her from her trouble.
Line by Line Meaning
Travelin' girl run away
The girl is constantly traveling to escape her pain and problems.
Wanderlust to kill the pain
She has a thirst for adventure that serves as a distraction from her emotional pain.
You thought my love would save your soul
She believed that the love of the person singing would be enough to heal her inner turmoil.
You feel apart you left me cold
The girl fell apart and left the singer feeling abandoned and emotionally detached.
What was sweet is now a sour taste... oh yeah
The love that once brought them joy has now turned into something bitter and unpleasant.
What was love now is laid to waste.... oh yeah
Their love has deteriorated and is now meaningless.
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
The singer is longing for the sweetness of their love to return.
When are you comin' back
The singer is asking when their partner will return to them.
Your wine soaked cries and cocaine lies
The girl is drowning her sorrows in alcohol and drugs.
The broken dreams in your bloodshot eyes
The person singing can see that the girl's dreams have been shattered and she is suffering.
I pine for you
The singer longs for the girl's presence.
I need you so
The singer has an emotional dependency on the girl.
I fall apart when you go
The person singing is unable to cope when the girl leaves.
Distilled in the driving rain.. oh yeah
The pain and heartache they feel is being compounded by harsh external circumstances.
When you gonna come back again ..oh yeah yeah yeah
The singer is asking when their partner will return, highlighting their desperation for the relationship to continue.
Without the will or know-how, where will you go now?
The person singing wonders what will happen to the girl without the strength or know-how to deal with her problems.
Sweetness, Sweetness, Sweetness
The singer is still longing for the sweetness of their love to return.
When are you comin' back
The singer is reiterating their desire for the girl to come back to them.
When are you comin' back to me?
The singer is still waiting for the girl to return to them.
To me? To me?
The singer is emphasizing their desire for the girl to return to them personally.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind