Mother Mother's Grief Chapter
Canadian indie-rock band, Mother Mother, will release Grief Chapter on Februrary 16th, the ninth album in the band’s discographical universe. While it has been three years since their last album, Grief Chapter is an obvious extension of their catalog - full of heavy drums and sharp lyrics that are spat a mile a minute.
The opening song, “Nobody Escapes”, makes me miss the days of the classic silhouette iPod commercials because this song would’ve been a perfect contender. It has classic 2010 harsh drums, easily complimenting a head bang, but not one that would give you whiplash.
“To My Heart”, feels like it could be an unearthed early Paramore B-side. This song feels nostalgic even though it’s fresh for 2024. It’s an example of how Mother Mother use every color in their crayon box; their eclectic inspirations run deep and wide.
The band is able to layer vocals like no one else, as if they were created in a Hollywood soundstage, unsure where the floor meets the wall, in a chamber where anything can happen. It keeps the listener on their toes, it’s never quite clear when a song may be over. They play with loud and soft, theatrically tugging the listener into a variety of different rooms. In “Explode”, the chorus comes out like a summer thunderstorm, strong for an instant, gone right as you pull out your umbrella. Their song “Forever”, the longest on the album, has a variety of movements but it works in tandem with the existential quandaries that the singer explores.
“Normalize” surprised me. After a few listens, I finally put my finger on the influences I was trying to decipher. Frontman Ryan Guldemond’s vocal delivery has a sharp edge to it, but is pillowed by the angelic backing vocals - I couldn’t help but think of Queen. Especially in the frenzied questioning of “What is normal?” repeated multiple times by the chorus, it felt largely influenced by “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Grief Chapter has an anxious buzzing in it from the beginning. Something not surprising with the times we live in. In the titular song, “Grief Chapter”, there’s the repeated phrase of, “Everything’s different now”. This statement is arguably vague from a bird’s eye view, but this is something that every person in the world can agree with. Things are different now. They might not be the same for everyone, but we’re all going through changes all the time and it’s unfortunately just a part of living. The album is full of questions - almost every song asks at least one. Guldemond and listeners hope for a response, but no answers are provided. Alas, sometimes it is not about finding the answer, it’s about getting it out of your head in the first place. By verbalizing it, it already provides some relief.
Grief Chapter is an existential indie rock journal entry that compliments the anxiety and the uneasiness of the day. It’s not one that allows you to wallow. It’s the perfect accompaniment as you stomp to your 9-5 or as you deal with the various drudgeries of adulthood. Mother Mother has proved themselves again in their ability to create hooky songs about the dark and lonely parts of life. Grief Chapter is out on February 16th on all platforms. Pre-save it now!