Vancouver band White Lung are releasing their fifth and final album, Premonition, next month, and judging from previous singles “Date Night” and “Tomorrow” it seems set to crash-land as a late entry into albums of the year lists. That becomes even more certain with the revelation of the latest single, “If You’re Gone”, about which singer Mish Barber-Way says:
“Suicide was in the zeitgeist in many ways when I wrote this song. At the time, a few prominent public figures had killed themselves and they all had children. I was thinking about postpartum depression and how real it can hit. The song is about the emotions of children when their parent is now gone and how they deal with that loss. It also looks at the struggle parents face when life gets so bad one doesn’t see another way but to end it.”
As ever, White Lung approach “If You’re Gone” unstutteringly, laying down a barrage of blasting drums and sidewinding guitars. This presents the perfect platform for Barber-Way’s heartfelt-yet-cerrated story of suicide and those who are left behind. She nor the band compromise in their approach to this harsh topic, and that makes it impact all the deeper. They guide us through undulations of sound that thrill while wringing out the pain of it all, while Barber-Way lays the burden down: “Some day they’ll cry to survive / They’ll wonder why you’re not alive.”
Watch the visualizer below or find it on streamers.
White Lung’s new album Premonition is out on December 2 through Domino (pre-order/save). You can find the band on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
