Crown Lands: End Of The Road
The duo frames a powerful message in its classic rock-based sound.
By Kerry Doole
Crown Lands - End Of The Road (Universal Music Canada): Sometimes a new single serves a greater purpose than a band's self-promotion. That is undeniably the case with this new offering from fast-rising rock duo Crown Lands, for it reflects the group's mission to drive awareness around the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, lost on the Highway of Tears.
Out in advance of the release of Crown Lands' self-titled debut album on August 13, End Of The Road is described in a press release as "a tribute to the Indigenous womxn, girls, and two-spirits who have gone missing or have been murdered on Yellowhead Highway 16, which is referred the Highway of Tears, a 725 kilometer (450 mile) stretch of road that goes between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada.
"Twenty-three First Nations border the highway and the region is characterized by poverty with lack of adequate public transportation which forces many locals to resort to hitchhiking. To date, 18 female identifying victims have been identified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 13 of them teenagers, but the number of victims is estimated to exceed over 40, giving BC the highest rate of unsolved murders of Indigenous females in Canada."
The song has been released in tandem with a powerful and poignant music video co-produced by Sage Nokomis Wright and co-directed by Tim Myles. The video features a prelude narrated by Tanya Tagaq with a cast of indigenous dancers and includes footage from The Highway of Tears.
The track showcases Crown Lands' fierce and expansive classic rock-based sound (Led Zeppelin is an obvious reference point), and the lyrics are suitably ominous in tone: "Stolen sisters in the night return to the ground below, then lightning strikes and thunder shakes her soul."
Hailing from Oshawa, CL features Cody Bowles (vocals and drums) and Kevin Comeau (guitar, bass and keys). Two earlier EPs, Mantra (2016) and Rise Over Run (2017), grabbed attention, as did last month's release of an acoustic EP, Wayward Flyers Volume 1. The group recruited hot US producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, William Prince) for the upcoming album.
Tour dates in Ireland, the UK, and Paris are planned for Feb. 2021.
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