Asking two lyricists to do their own thing ready to combine it in one track is a risky move, but one that Cumbrian six-piece Willowside Park say has paid off. “We feel that this unorthodox collaborative method actually worked quite well,” the band say, explaining how Chris McQuire and Sam O’Donnell returned with a consistent theme. Through it, ‘Fading’ touches on broken and failed relationships, in part family and in part romantic.
“‘Fading’ was a weird song to write,” they reminisce. “We had a bunch of old demos piled up over the course of two years and it was only when we revisited them a couple years later that we decided to put them into action. Sam had written the acoustic rhythm to the song and Aaron came up with a lead to follow on with Tyler improvising drumming patterns during jam sessions. When we brought it to the table at practice, everything kind of fell into place and started to feel right.”
‘Fading’ sees the band mature further, far removed from their early days as two separate covers bands. With 2014’s ‘Deadlines’ and their 2015 follow-up ‘What’s Stopping Me?’ behind them, ‘Hollowed Out’ – due for release on the 8th April – marks another leap forward. ‘Fading’, and its accompanying video, is the first taste of things to come.
“We shot the video over two days with our good friend Will Kirkman (Brevity Pictures, ex-Above the Underground) and had a swell time hanging around in old dirty houses with him! He’s a great guy and we’ve always wanted to shoot something with him so he was our first choice when we decided ‘Fading’ was going to be the lead single.”
The video also reflects Willowside Park’s ability to balance their lives. “The only downside was Chris was actually performing in a community production of Oliver Twist at the time and had to keep quite a thick beard for the performances,” they note. “He’s mentioned in passing that he thinks he looks homeless in the video. We promise he isn’t.”
‘Hollowed Out’ will be available from the 8th APril 2016, and is available to pre-order now.