PREMIERE: Dear Seattle Take You Track-by-track Through Their New EP

Dear Seattle's new self-titled EP drops tomorrow and ahead of its release, we here at theMusic.com.au are chuffed to not only premiere the release, but also deliver a track-by-track run-through straight from the words of frontman, Brae Fisher.

Here's all you need to know about the six-track EP.

This new EP is all about reinvention and self-evolution following loss. Centred around the most painful breakup I have ever had to endure, this record illustrates both the agony of my journey, and the internal change I had to conjure to come out the other side with positivity in my stride.

Despite a happy ending, it’s not a pretty story, but it’s entirely raw.

Here's the story.

the things you do

As the first step in our band’s transformative journey throughout this EP, The Things You Do opens by illustrating a pivotal point in our band history, where we had to undergo one of the hardest separations to date. The track explores the rollercoaster of deciding to move forward as a four-piece, and how that decision impacted the music we play, the themes we cover, and the friendships we had built with former members of the band. It’s a very bittersweet song in a way, as it was such a crushing change to have made for all parties, but it’s led to such a great chemistry among us and a move towards music we are all so proud of.

cut you deep

Besides The Things You Do, the rest of the EP focuses more so on my own personal reinvention in the wake of a break-up with what I would call my first love. Cut You Deep is the apologetic beginning of that journey, as I came to realise that despite what I first thought, a lot of this break up was no-one’s fault but my own. The things I did, words I said, how I acted and especially how I over-reacted, all led me to this point and I just have to wear it.

the meadows

Possibly one of the most cathartic songs on the record, The Meadows is an exhibition of the thoughts I had to keep telling myself day in and day out as I was coming to terms with the loss of this partner and the realisations in Cut You Deep. It's seems funny to me that I somehow came out with such an uplifting sounding track whilst dwelling in such a dark place. I was telling myself “Fuck being sad” so fucking often that it almost became an anthem inside my head, and I guess that’s what made it so easy to translate into music. This track is basically a letter I wrote to myself to help pull me out of the swamp.

concrete

Concrete looks more broadly at this period, focusing on the theme of self-worth and how we perceive ourselves in times of grief. I was spending a lot of time alone, choosing to dwell rather than push forward, and that led to a lot of unwarranted reservation towards my family and friends - the people who should be your main focus in this time. I was drinking a lot and getting involved in things I saw as simple remedies for how I was feeling, and it all led me to question “Will anybody show any signs of grief when I’m down below?”. In a way, this was the best thing I could’ve asked myself because it made me realise that it was me who had to make a change in my life; no-one could beat this for me.

quiet

I love this song, because I feel like it’s the turning point in the record where the focus shifts from self-sabotage, to reinvention and betterment. Quiet has it’s own complex built into it, where I am having all of these thoughts about improving my confidence, positivity and certainty of who I am, but I am not entirely acting upon it yet. “Help me find a way to stay positive, cos I can’t figure it out, so I’ll just stay quiet”. It’s about that first step in changing your mindset and deciding you have to act for yourself in order to find your own happiness.

afterthought

The grand finale of the EP, Afterthought is the transcript of my retrospect of the whole break up. It’s a look back at everything I had been through and how far I had come, and is truly a celebration of finally finding who I want to be. It incorporates themes from all aspects of the EP, from the over-drinking, to treating my family like shit, to that same 'fuck being sad' mentality. It’s all there, but it’s all positive. I’m not reflecting in agony, I’m reflecting in joy as all of it has now led me to become a better and stronger person, who treats people with love wherever possible. The track ends with a chant of “Nothing, I’m Nothing” to draw back to where I began - that feeling of being completely worthless - to really highlight the distinction between where I was and where I am now.

To us, these tracks have an essence of wholeness about them where each one feels connected to the next, which is purely a result of how we decided to write it. Instead of writing song by song in a bedroom over an extended period of time, we chose to go away for a week to a farm in the middle of nowhere and just churn it out as a group. In my opinion, that's the reason it is all so connected and whole, because it truly is a snapshot of where we were at in that period of time.

Stylistically, this record came out sounding the way it did due to pure honesty. When you jam as a band, each member is providing their own unadulterated flavour, which is the result of their own true influences and inspirations. So in a way, there is no distinct inspiration for this record besides wanting to write something we all love - and I feel like we achieved that by writing with heart. As a result, this is a record that still gets to me years after it was written, and that’s something I’m truly proud of.