By Kerry Doole
Chastity - Somersault ( Dine Alone Records/Deathwish): Whitby-based rock singer/songwriter Brandon Williams trades under the name Chastity, and business has been going well. Recent work has elicited rave reviews from such major international outlets, with The Fader calling his 2018 album Death Lust "one of the most intense and passionate Canadian rock debuts in recent years."
Anticipation is growing for his third album, Suffer Summer, set for release on Jan. 13. Somersault, the third advance single from the record, came out yesterday, and it's a winner. Sure to help bring the cut attention is the presence of City and Colour - aka Dallas Green - as its co-writer (with Williams and Keegan Powell). Green appears as a guest vocalist on another album track, Vicious Circle.
Williams is noted for his dark and intense subject matter, but there's actually an upbeat and slightly trippy feel to this song. The lush production is a bonus.
In a label press release, Williams explains that “this is a song about the apocalypse, that was written before this current apocalypse began. It's about finding a better world hidden away in your room, or someplace safe.” Of the accompanying video, he says “The first video put out for the trilogy was for Children, based off a true story of police brutality in my town. In one of the final videos for it now, I wanted to make sure the gap was closed and the cop got what was coming. Trying to make a dream feel real.”
Another notable name in the credits of Suffer Summer is PUP frontman Stefan Babcock, who co-wrote two songs with Williams. This shows the peer respect Chastity has earned, and it'd be no surprise to see him equal the success of such other hard-edged Canadian bands as METZ, PUP, and The Dirty Nil.
Chastity opens for City & Colour at Massey Hall in Toronto on Dec. 14, and dates with The Dirty Nil are planned.
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Publicity: Conor, Hive Mind PR - conor@hivemindpr.com
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