With many of us partly if not fully vaxxed, and the CDC telling us we can maybe sorta possibly not be wearing a mask in public all the time now, it’s time to start seriously thinking about the future—an abstract idea thus far in the pandemic, and one that’s likely something of a fresh start in your mind. At least this is what Royal Canoe had in mind for their newly unveiled follow up to 2019’s Waver. The first single from Sidelining, “Butterfalls,” feels like the first breath of summer air out from underneath a cloth mask, combining heavy bass hits, soulful vocals, and even a backing choir of voices abetting the hopeful vocals.
“This song is about realizing that when things start to unravel, sometimes you need to tear it all down to properly build it back up again,” the group shares. “We often trust ourselves and the structures around us to be inherently ‘on course,’ but that can leave us blind to how far we might have veered from our best intentions. At some point these old habits become so burdensome that the only way to keep moving forward is to throw it all out and start from scratch.”
Starting from scratch, however, can be dangerous, the band continues, offering us an important reminder when it comes to copyright law. “100 percent true fact: With all of the Titanic imagery in the song we wanted to call it ‘My Heart Will Go On Pt. II,’ but Celine’s lawyers weren’t having it—so we had to settle on ‘Butterfalls.’”
Watch the video for the track below.
