Drift off to sleep with Frantic Lullabies' newly released EP Apollo.
Dreamy indie-rock band Frantic Lullabies released their first ever EP Apollo, on Saturday, April 18th, 2020. All five members; Madison Agar on vocals and guitar, James DeGeer on lead guitar, Spencer Devolin on bass, Dermott Shepherd on keys, and Jacob Wiley on drums, met while attending Mohawk College for music.
"Apollo has been a purposefully slow process," said Agar. "We have many other songs in the works, but the four we've included on the EP happened to have qualities and similar feelings that overall blend well. When we started this project, we knew we wanted to create something fun for the listener, so choosing from the set list was easy for us. The themes, although having something to do with the title, connect solely through coincidence."
Agar, as the primary lyricist, ran through the meanings behind each of the four songs included.
Upon opening Apollo, you're greeted with a soft-starting self-reflective track, "Firepit".
""Firepit" connects directly to the feelings of personal loss," said Agar." I suppose there are hints to the character implying a desperate need for a mental escape. Destruction of personal belongings, abuse of substances."
"Bouquet" is listed second. A fan favourite, the pretty title is thematic: meeting someone, falling in love, the two of you falling apart, then starting over with someone new.
""Bouquet" has the most themes in one I believe," said Agar. "It's a story without a direct motive- just the human experience of meeting others, the difficulty one may have with that learning process, and the repetitive nature of one finds. The song is a journey, one without many lyrics for the main body of the song. It's a template others can pour into, find themselves in. By the end of the song, you've reached the beginning once more. Beginning again but cut short, not everyone learns so quickly."
"Gravity" is the only instrumental track on the EP. Bright and bouncy, it sounds like it should be on the soundtrack of the next blockbuster rom-com. Although wordless, it manages to inject a sense of hopefulness to an EP littered with struggle and personal doubt.
""Gravity" has always meant the most in terms of having to do with the natural flow it has," said Agar. "It feels like the song this EP needed. The song that means to tell you to breathe and let go. That is a song for a listener trying to connect to themselves, not others."
"Rusty" is the closing song on Apollo. Frantic's EP wraps up with their hardest song yet, Agar growling over raging guitars and drums.
"Rusty" shines a lot of light on my own personal perspective on getting older, the good and the bad," said Agar. "One day I will have totally let go of everything I am today. Worries of being a night owl, what relationship you have with the person in the mirror, the relationship I've had with smoking on and off in my life. Any desire for peace in the future, still seems difficult, where certain schools of thought become easier, you wish you had figured that out before certain limitations took over. It's a collection of the comings and goings of thoughts and physical difficulty that overtake us. Some we master, others we forget to focus on."
Apollo was a personal journey for the frontman.
"Apollo was named after the Sun theme I found among the four tracks- 'fire', 'friction', "Gravity", even 'early-risers'," said Agar. "I suppose all these songs are things I would tell my younger self, maybe thoughts I'd record for my future self. Overall they are full of hope, frustrations, and the wonder if anybody else feels this way. I'm here for my own version of therapy with what I do. I'm carrying the hope that it does the same sort of thing for others every time I step on stage. The performance is never a worry of mine."
The band recorded Apollo at Birdcage Studios in St. Catharines.
"We began recording in early September and then started up again in late October. All together we spent four weeks there," said Agar. "The recording process came at a time where all of our lives were very fast paced. It was a growing experience as much as a bonding experience. It felt different from when we recorded Insomnia- that was a process of quick thinking, diverse opinions and attempts we didn't know would work. There were so many more ups than there were downs. Travel, distance, and sleep were the only hurdles we really had. We had so many laughs; outtakes have us screaming from dedication and laughing at my confident pronunciations sounding a little too sure. There was not much left to disagree on, we left that in the practice sessions long before we stepped in the studio."
Agar hopes the listeners can relate to the themes on Frantic's EP.
"I hope our listeners feel more than one thing on Apollo," said Agar. "We have included so much of ourselves it feels like almost anyone can find enjoyment in the rhythms, the notes, the words. Some days I'll put on one of our songs just to hear the harmony of the chords, maybe just to hear James rip all over Firepit. I hope our listeners can feel connected, not so alone in the grand scheme. Apollo is just the beginning, we want more: more to say, more to feel. We just can't do it by ourselves, we invite connectivity."
Frantic Lullabies look forward to bringing their listeners more content as soon as possible.
"In the near three years Frantic Lullabies has been active, these four carefully selected songs have endured and survived," said Agar. "Each song holds practiced experience behind each word, direct experience with love, the world, dreams, fear of ones own mortality. This EP is reflective of the human experience. Settling has never been a theme that would ideally fit these works. Mood as well a musicality begin to swim amongst themselves. Taking from more than one musical style and influence crafts the shared differences of everyone involved into a meeting of the minds. We hope for your experience listening to this EP to be impactful. Something that when listening with your eyes closed, creates shapes and colours both familiar and strange to you. Thank you for your curiosity and support. We love you."
Upcoming gigs:
(Postponed due to COVID-19.)