“I’ll go anywhere for you my love
Nothing I wouldn’t do for you my love
But it’s a long way down, a long way down…”
– Top Of The Sky, Blues Pills
On the surface the third single from Blues Pills forthcoming new album Birthday might seem like a straightforward love ballad, but guitarist Zack Anderson from Blues Pills explains that “Top Of The Sky is actually about going anywhere and doing anything to seek attention on the internet” he continues “I was inspired by this documentary about an influencer in China who climbs buildings. He climbed a skyscraper and fell and died while streaming. It made me reflect on the age we live in where people are chasing attention and likes on social media, being willing to climb so high to try to find connection and approval online.”
Wu Yongning, who called himself ‘China’s First Rooftopper’ lost his grip and plunged 62 storeys to his death in 2017. His death is only one in huge list of social media related deaths and highlighted the growing “cash for clips” trend.
“We’re all trapped in that modern prison of social media, most people are affected by it, this attention seeking, wanting likes, when someone dies doing it, it puts it all into perspective”, states Zack “I am an advocate for digital detoxing, but it becomes hypocritical because we must use social media to push the band out there. But I do think it’s creating a mental health epidemic. If I look at my own life, I feel more stressed the more I use my phone. It almost feels to me like when cigarettes were new, and they said there were no side effects. We still don’t know what the long-term effects of intense social media use on mental health are. At the same time, I don’t think it’s all negative, but this extreme use, people are dying for likes.”
“I know they say don’t look down cause / There’s only one way out / I’ll just be holding on until my arms give out”, sings Blues Pills singer Elin Larsson on the new single Top Of The Sky “It’s not a ballad to hate on technology, but it was that story that inspired the lyrics, it was one of those moments that made me stop and think about that what we’re doing.”
Blues Pills’ new album Birthday exudes an irrepressible energy and live-feel, that bespeaks a confidence in their ability to craft new compelling sounds without tampering with the explosive formula that got them their start – a sound that’s as eclectic as it is heavy as it is fun, and their continuity is testament to their determination to progress, mature, and evolve their sound within a fickle industry.
The Swedish rock ‘n’ roll band will release their 4th studio album on August 2nd before embarking on the European Birthday tour in October. Written and recorded in Sweden’s idyllic rural countryside as well as Recordia studios, Birthday took just 10 days to record and produced by renowned songwriter and studio guru Freddy Alexander.
BIRTHDAY – Tracklist:
1. Birthday
2. Don’t You Love it
3. Bad Choices
4. Top Of The Sky
5. Like A Drug
6. Piggyback Ride
7. Holding Me Back
8. Somebody Better
9. Shadows
10. I Don’t Wanna Get Back On That Horse Again
11. What Has This Life Done To You
BLUES PILLS are:
Elin Larsson – vocals
Zack Anderson – Guitar
Kristoffer Schander – Bass
André Kvarnström – Drums
Pre-order BLUES PILLS Album BIRTHDAY hier:
https://bluespills.lnk.to/BirthdayAlbum
