Boston’s Divine Sweater often feel like the answer to the question of what Alvvays’ brand of dream-pop might sound like if they swapped their additional jangle-pop influences for an interest in sophisti-pop. Which can make it a bit of a surprise to explore the lyrical themes of songs like their latest single, “Light Taker,” which hide beneath their sparkling sheen lyrics about past self-destructive tendencies and the will power required to come out the other end unscathed.
“When I wrote the lyrics, I was living a version of my life that was inauthentic and I felt really far away from the person I wanted to be,” shares vocalist Meghan Kelleher. “I had all these big feelings—restlessness, anxiety, envy—building up inside of me until they completely exploded and basically forced me to change my life. I quit my job, I moved to a new city, and I stepped into a completely new version of myself. ‘Light Taker’ is set in the months leading up to that boiling point.”
The track lands ahead of the group’s forthcoming album A Time for Everything, which they recorded with Better Company Records (and San Fermin) co-founder Allen Tate. “The writing process for ‘Light Taker’ was totally spontaneous and collaborative,” Kelleher adds. “The five of us were together rehearsing, and our bassist Alex just pulled this bass line out of nowhere. We all stopped in our tracks, put down what we were doing, and started jamming on it and adding sections. A few hours later, the song was done. Since then, it’s been one of our favorite songs to play live because it has such a tumultuous, heated vibe.”
The track’s music video sees the quintet lighting up the crowd at Boston Calling with a live rendition of the track. Check it out below, and pre-order the new record ahead of its September 13 release via Better Company here.
