Beyond a few short days of unreasonable and unseasonable spring fever, mother nature here in New England is quick to deliver a cold reminder of where we are, exactly on the calendar, and where we belong, exactly, in our own headspace. But today’s (February 25) unrelenting snowstorm, to be followed by a frigid icing-over that should remain in place for weeks, comes with an appropriate soundtrack from Dublin post-punk band Scattered Ashes, who complement the stark landscape on the other side of our glass houses with a stirring new track called “This New Will.”
Arresting and vulnerable in its sly confidence, “This New Will” is quick to garner the usual heroes n’ icons who dominate post-punk’s tired RIYL spaces. But its tribal propulsion and murky back-end suggest something a bit more cravenly colorful than the usual grayscale nods to yesterday. The track is said to be a call for action in the face of despair, and it seems fitting to be released as we wrestle with the limited freedoms late-winter often provides. Then again, we often find ourselves in the same predicament once the weather warms and the snow melts faster than the excuses.
“A lifetime of self-denial leads to a dramatic overhaul of character,” says Scattered Ashes frontman Robert Dalton, adding: “A new hope, a new urge, a new will. This is definitely our most poignant song yet.”
It’s a theme structured around the ideals of spring, with a sound trapped in the realities of winter. It’s not only what we get, but what we deserve, and how it carries forth to make ourselves better, more complete, is, as usual, up to the listener. Experience it below.