Grave Goods
Grave Goods share new single ‘Die’ ahead of their debut album Tuesday. Nothing Exists, released this Friday via TULLE Collective.
The trio comprised of current and former members of PINS, Girls Names, and September Girls, Lois Macdonald (Guitar/Vocals), Sarah Grimes (Drums) & Phil Quinn (Bass) follow up on previous singles Source & Come with latest single Die as a glimpse of forthcoming album Tuesday. Nothing Exists.
Commenting on the new single, Sarah explain: “Lois sent us the idea for DIE as a sort of electronic track, and when we were all together we worked out how to make it into a live band sound and add our own stamp to it. Whilst recording at Invada we felt that the build up towards the end of DIE needed more layers, so Lois and Phil tried out a couple of synths and settled on a sound that worked - it’s the only song that has synth. During the last 15 minutes of our recording time Phil added extra layers by messing around with some guitar feedback - the final sound to be recorded on the album, which is kind of special when you think about it especially as DIE is the closing track of the album.”
Going on to discuss the new album Lois offers: “We wanted the sound to be minimal, uncomfortable, unusual, angular, abrasive. We wanted to challenge ourselves to make something different, and not worry about conventional song writing. When Writing there is a lot of communication and small changes until everyone is happy with their parts. We try every idea. I like to think we write with the intention of giving each instrument space, and not being afraid to play nothing.”
“We live in different countries so we would meet up a few times a year and do a few days of intensive writing, then take the ideas away and work on them. We usually meet up in Dublin, Sarah takes us in and we spend the whole time in the practice room getting as much done as we can.”
While Sarah goes on to comment:” Lois and I were chatting about the music we are interested in after a gig we played in San Diego, where my former band supported her band. Lois mentioned she wanted to visit Dublin again so I invited her to come visit and also to work on some music. I feel like when we started writing the music initially, it was just for enjoyment, to make the kind of music we were interested in listening to and it developed really naturally. On the first day we got together we wrote four songs, ‘Come’, ‘None’, ‘Miles’ - I can’t remember the last one, which we performed at a house party later that night - our first gig, kind of. I think for me it was after playing in front of people that I felt, ok we’re making this music for our own enjoyment, but it definitely needs to be shared. So, we continued to work on the structures of the songs, shared ideas, tried ideas, worked on new stuff and ended up with a body of work. I think we all come at the process differently, I feel the music comes first as that’s the bit I know how to do.”
Moving on to discuss the albums lyrical content Lois explains: “This album was penned pre-pandemic. I was obsessed, and still am, with ‘Nausea’ by Jean Paul Sartre. It’s my bible. It summarises our existence. It is everything and nothing.”
“The album's lyrics are all exploring existential philosophy. I had been reading a lot of Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir and I couldn’t get enough. Everything I was reading made me feel excited and exhilarated, and overwhelmed at the same time. I became obsessed with Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre and read it over and over again and took it everywhere with me. I felt like someone had written down how I see the world and I found it a comfort to always have it there.”
“To me most of the songs are about how everything is pointless so everything has complete meaning, and only you know what that is for you."
“We recorded at Invada Studios in Bristol, and I feel the Pandemic has added another context to the concept of the album.”
