Porridge Radio didn’t get to tour fully behind their 2020 breakthrough album Every Bad because, well, you know, but they’ve channeled all that frustration and fear into a second album called Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky, which is coming out on May 20 through Secretly Canadian. Today they share the opening track “Back To The Radio”, with singer Dana Margolin saying:
‘“Back To The Radio’ feels like a huge introductory hello or a big ceremonial goodbye. I wrote it at the end of 2019 when we were gearing up for the release of Every Bad and I felt like a lot of things were coming that I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle. The song grew out of a feeling of intense loneliness and being unprepared for what everybody was promising me was about to happen – and a strong desire to escape without knowing what I wanted to escape to. To me there’s a huge feeling of catharsis in this song, of letting go and letting it sweep you away.”
Rather than harnessing an all-out rock sound that you might expect from a comeback single, “Back To The Radio” finds Porridge Radio slowly building from tense guitars-and-static to an eventual outpouring. This works in tandem with Margolin’s words, where her quiet fears gradually build to become overwhelming terrors. It’s a scathingly honest depiction of the way that the pressure of great change can hamper, constrict and quash any attempts at feeling good. Fortunately, in tried-and-tested Porridge Radio fashion, it builds to a finale that’s genuinely uplifting (despite the worrisome words), and will send you off feeling like you can fly through whatever ails you.
Watch the video for “Back To The Radio” below or listen to it on streaming platforms.
Porridge Radio’s new album Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky comes out on May 20 through Secretly Canadian (pre-order/save). You can find them on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
