- 2022-10-04
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ Icon For Hire Releases New Album “The Reckoning”: Streaming
American rock band Icon For Hire, consisting of Ariel Bloomer (vocals) and Shawn Jump (guitar/keyboard), released their fifth studio album “The Reckoning” along with a new music video for “Gatekeepers” on September 30, 2022.
The album comprises 13-track, produced by David Thulin. All songs were written by Ariel Bloomer, David Thulin, Keith Wallen and Shawn Jump.
The album is inspired by the realisation of the dark parts of ourselves and learning to accept them.
Ariel Bloomer said of the album, “'The Reckoning' isn't just about exploring all the dark and heavy pieces of ourselves, it's about embracing and accepting those pieces, and using them as weapons against the gatekeepers that hold us back, even when those gatekeepers are our own self-imposed limitations.”- This album is different from their previous four albums, in addition to heavy rock sound as their roots, added hip-hop and some slow elements.
Shawn Jump said, “It always turned everything up. Drums, to vocals, to guitars, to bass, to synthesizers. Tempo, everything's up. We dropped it down to I think being one of the songs and like it's me C#, which is very low for us.”
Ariel Bloomer added, “I had a lot of suppressed anger on this album that I didn't realize until I was in the vocal booth. I started screaming I started writing more aggressively. There's a whole new side of saying that you've never seen. There's a lot of rage and a lot of anger. There's a lot of power. There's a lot in your faceness and there's some other surprise songs on the album that I think kind of rounded out a little bit that you might not be expecting. You get the hip-hop. You get some of the slower stuff. It's a range and we are really in a great flow right now creatively where we're just able to create and write and produce and put out a bunch of music for you guys and we're having a really good time doing it.” -
“Breakdown”
“I had the hook line 'I'm always up for a breakdown' in my notebook for years and wanted to do something with it. Vocally I go harder here than usual. Shawn and I collaborated on a lot of the lyrical themes on this song, which we've been doing more of lately. It's usually a painful process for my control freak self but Shawn led the construction of this song. He asked what lyrical concepts I had, and then laid out the bones of the song and helped me write around his structure.”
“Ready For Combat”
“'Ready For Combat' is a punch in the face. I'm demanding a fight, insisting that my demons come out to meet me. It actually feels amazing to acknowledge this angrier side of me. As women we often don't have the space and freedom to do that, so it feels good to create some space with this song”. “It's pure aggression from the start!”, adds Shawn, “it doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles we usually incorporate in our song”.
“Dismantled”
“'Dismantled' came from a very raw and personal place, when I was at a low point. My therapist has been helping me get better at feeling my emotions, so I was sitting on the floor crying and just naming my feelings: broken, pissed off, used, like I'm being stripped for parts. I took that experience to the piano and came out with a ballad. The song totally evolved by the time we got to the studio!”.
“Shadow”
“[The track deals with] the ugly part of ourselves we try to suppress and hide, but what if we embraced them? I'm in this space right now where I'm learning not to be ashamed, apologetic or resistant. To accept those dark parts of myself as *me*.
We had the chorus and most of the vocals written. We got together with Keith [Wallen of Breaking Benjamin] to finish it out. He was able to help move some of the pieces around, and helped us demo out the structure.”
Photo by Doltyn Snedden - source : Apple Music
