Peach Pit discusses the frightening realities of solitude and the numbness toward simple pleasures in “Up Granville,” the lead single off their 2022 record, ‘From 2 to 3.’
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Stream: “Up Granville” – Peach Pit
Peach Pit enthusiasts typically find themselves nodding along to humorous yet soothing storylines met with crisp guitar riffs about an ex-girlfriend’s forgotten shampoo bottles, the consensus of hatred toward black licorice or one night when one of the band members got a little bit too drunk.
While there’s sprinkled accounts of youthful debauchery throughout their third record From 2 to 3, the group shifts toward accounting for the more emotionally difficult and formative moments of their life, focusing on isolation and loneliness in lead-off tune “Up Granville.”
“This song is about living alone for the first time in my life,” frontman Neil Smith said in a press release. “Being stuck in my small studio apartment during Vancouver’s rainy winter and wallowing in the loneliness of it.” He’s joined by Christopher Vanderkooy on lead guitar, Peter Wilton on bass and Mikey Pascuzzi on drums.
The song opens as a narrator peering into the life of their partner struggling to believe they’re loved and sulking in self-dissatisfaction.
When you’re sad inside
Whipping up your lines about destroying
Like you could only care for
The bitter end of it again
The narrator watches their crumbling friend succumb to the dangers of loneliness and mental instability, writing song after song, line after line about such topics, feeling hopeless and unable to pull them out of such a self-destructive state of mind.
Hold me at your side
Call me to deny that I had loved you
When I already can’t even walk
Past twelfth to get up Granville
Paying homage to the band’s hometown of Vancouver, the narrator nods to the memories created on bustling Granville Street that are so vivid, making the return to the area difficult and emotional.
The woes of solitude continue to ring throughout the song, as even the simple pleasures of life – such as the tranquility of the sunrise or the company of good people – are unable to free the individual of the pains they are enduring.
Even at the golden light of morning
Leading you away from all this strife
Having ordinary company
That always leaves you dry
Isolation and loneliness aren’t typically the topics of choice of Peach Pit, but this song still follows the band’s tendency of telling a story; a story that feels real and close to home.
Like many of their other songs, the lyrical story of “Up Granville” is met with a music video that further adds to the emotion and mystery.
The video, featuring the four bandmates, encapsulates elements of simplicity, self-evaluation and introspective nature. There’s an odd nostalgic component that the group produces through the connection of their songs and video imagery; although there’s not much plot or identifiable meaning to the hodge podge of split scenes and activities, there’s a recurring theme of appreciating the pleasures ordinary life that are so often overlooked yet so pivotal in personal development.
For those able to escape the dangers and hardships solitude and loneliness produce, the values of joy found in community and friendship that was once lacking are magnified. Sitting around a fire, sharing a meal, and car rides are all rather ordinary events that wouldn’t necessarily produce adrenaline or intense feelings of joy, but are ever-greatly appreciated to someone who has been locked in a tiny apartment in Vancouver through the dark depths of winter, as Neil Smith points out.
No Peach Pit song would be complete without a masterfully crafted guitar lick by Chris Vanderkooy.
His glistening solo at the end of “Up Granville” seemingly reflects a sense of freedom and hope, a simple yet encouraging bit – the light at the end of the tunnel.
Peach Pit reinstate the necessity for friendship and camaraderie throughout the woes of solitude, taking on a more serious and in-depth approach to their songwriting style without sacrificing their tone or musical charm.
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Stream: “Up Granville” – Peach Pit
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? © Mackenzie Walker
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