We’ve all been there: rummaging around a secondhand clothing store trying on vintage outfits before having the stark realization that, “Oh, shit, this belongs to someone who’s probably dead now.” Most of us, though, don’t follow that train of thought long enough to turn it into an introspective single like the new track from Toronto-by-way-of-Edmonton alt-country rockers Altameda. “Dead Man’s Suit” lives in this eerie idea of impermanence much in the same way the band’s vocalist Troy Snaterse now lives in the titular suit, reflecting upon mortality while his backing band provides subtle instrumentation in the form of dampened piano and swelling strings.
“We had found ourselves in Denver, Colorado,” Snaterse shares of the song’s origin in a pre-show thrift store raid. “On this particular peruse, as I sifted past barbecue-stained sweaters and grease-soaked Levi’s, I spotted an all-white, two-piece suit cloaked in a dusty plastic garment bag. I was immediately drawn to it, and proceeded to the change room to try it on. Another stroke of fate: it fit me as if it were previously tailored to me. As I glanced into the mirror, I started to consider the previous owner, and what relevance the suit had to him. It was of another time and place, and had somehow been passed through enough hands to find me in that shop in Denver. I purchased it and wore it on stage that night. As I sweat beneath the lights, I could feel the presence of impermanence inside of the room.”
Hear the single below, and expect more from Altameda in the near future.
