The world is never not going to be a scary place: The moment we’re born, there are pathogens and predators and ideological fanatics and religious extremists trying to harm us. If we’re born lucky, our parents might try to shield us as children from some of those frightful realities, waiting until the right moment to drop these knowledge bombs and shatter our innocence.
Life sometimes feels like a ticking clock; a constant Cold War-like scenario. At any moment, something bad might happen. The modern age’s instant news updates make us increasingly aware of the bad surrounding us, and because fear sells, there is an overt bias toward that focus.
But if the 1960s taught us anything, it’s that love outweighs fear. We must always keep that in mind, and thankfully there are artists like Adult Future to remind us of that love in song.
So we’re a little late, you absolve me with that sparkle in your eyes
Please don’t hesitate, when the fire sweeps across the sky
Listen: “The Leaf House” – Adult Future
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The lead/”debut” single from Adult Future’s (formerly known as The Smoking Bells) upcoming album In The News (out September 30, 2016), “The Leaf House” is “a call to love in the face of a world that seemingly has lost all hope.” Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering this song today: In an increasingly unstable political and socioeconomic climate, we need grounding. We need messages of hope; to know that we have a purpose, we have a place, and most importantly, we have a voice.
A major misconception people have is that “these days” are somehow different from the past; that somehow, the threats facing us each and every day are greater now than they were five, ten, twenty years ago. The world hasn’t changed: Sure, names and faces experience some turnover, but we are not inherently worse off now than we were “before.” In fact, one might assert that the enhancements provided by science and technology in this Information Age give us a better handle of ourselves and our surroundings.
Still, sometimes too much knowledge can be scary; simply saying “everything will be alright” isn’t going to quell our anxieties. Rather than dismiss our emotions, Adult Future challenge us to take ahold of our lives – to be self-empowered:
You will, make haste
Project, in space
Follow, me home
Get dark, in tone
Oooh, we’re in the leaf house, baby
Nourish that love
Oooh, we in the leaf house, honey
Rise above
“The Leaf House” is literally a declaration to “rise above.” We can do better. We can be better. “You will make haste,” sings lead vocalist Darius Byrne. The song is meditative, rather than overtly optimistic: Adult Future’s music goes somewhere into the “alternative” rock genre, but their experimental nature contains enough electronic, psychedelic and indie influence to detach them from the ’80s and ’90s bands who popularized that sound.
You never know who and where your music might hit. You never know what it will come to represent, and “The Leaf House” opens itself to interpretation in the best way possible. It is driven; Adult Future embed their own sense of urgency into the song with a pounding, unrelenting bass line. Byrne’s voice is raw and real, faithfully delivering emotion with a direct indirectness that is exclusive to music.
Hold your tongue, in a world like this
There’s no fun, in a snake’s kiss
Please don’t roll, your eyes, at me
Hold on now, that truth, you’ll see
From the band: “(‘The Leaf House’) is a return to a state of nature in a context of overwhelming instability, Trump and pervasive fear. It urges you to unravel your tongue, to stop being afraid, and to love as a response against a world that has forsaken you. It’s our call to arms and our weapon is the love that we share with each other.“
Darius Byrne, Brian Ireland, Andrew Eyles have outdone themselves: Perhaps Adult Future’s most important contribution to date, “The Leaf House” proves this savvy Toronto trio have their eyes open and their minds alert. Their use of music as a vessel of empowerment is inspiring; this song could not be more relevant than it is today, right now, at this moment.
With so much fear surrounding us, “The Leaf House” pushes us out of our comfort zone and challenges us to fight fear with love. Don’t miss this exciting new single, and be on the lookout for Adult Future’s In The News, out 9/30/2016!
