These Toronto indie-rockers write about breaking away from a toxic relationship on their second ever single.
Three-piece Toronto alt-rockers NERiMA released their second ever single "Home" on January 31, 2021. The heartfelt indie single was created by bandmates Alexi Orial on vocals and rhythm guitar, Connor Sheahan on bass, and Alex Nicole on drums. "Home" was written by Orial, which was one of the first songs she had put together for her band.
"Most others had been old ones I’d remastered from before NERiMA was even an idea, but this song was the first I believed in enough to start from scratch," said Orial. "I wrote "Home" in February of last year and started completely fresh- I sat down with my acoustic, found a riff and melody, wrote the lyrics, and finished it. Usually I’ll write parts of a song and sleep on it or come back later, but I started and finished "Home" that day. I just felt such a connection to it. The lyrics especially, since they started pouring out before I even knew what I was singing about- and I knew I had to sit down and flesh it all out or it would be sitting at the back of my mind, waiting for me."
Fleshing out "Home" was an effortless process for the indie-rockers.
"For the other instruments, I played around with ideas, but I then gave them to Alex and Connor to write their own parts, something we hadn’t done yet since they were both still learning," said Orial. "But it went great and I’m so happy with what they wrote, with the parts we worked on and perfected from the first day, and right up until the studio."
Orial says the lyrics on "Home" are deeply personal.
"The lyrics are kind of a difficult thing to try and describe," said Orial. "They’re some of my favourite ones I’ve written, but they’re also the hardest to describe in any concrete way."
"Home" is best described as an abstract story about a woman trapped in a toxic relationship.
"It uses the imagery of Heaven and Hell and “angel-turned-devil” to jump between right and wrong in a situation like that, and how important morals really are in a situation when they’re already broken," said Orial. "Philosophy and darkness in morals is just something I’ve always found interesting, so these lyrics came really naturally to me, even though they aren’t exactly autobiographical."
NERiMA received an offer from Ryan Fitz of Bearings to record the single in studio.
"We, of course, took the offer and drove out to Hamilton to spend the day recording the song with him," said Sheahan. "It was an amazing opportunity that we're so thankful we took, especially since right afterwards, COVID restrictions tightened again. A lot of the creative process behind "Home" was delayed because of restrictions early last year, but looking back at it, the extra practice and writing time helped the recording session go much smoother."
The fan reactions to "Home" blew the band away.
"We knew that we’d worked really hard to build the following we had, but we never expected so many people to show so much support, and we're honestly taken aback- it's absolutely amazing," said Nicole. "We hit our one-hundred streams goal on the first day! Seeing so many people listening to the song, giving such positive feedback, and sharing it on their socials saying they loved it was such an incredible feeling. We were a bit scared that people wouldn't receive the song as well as "All Afraid To Fall" since it's quite different in genre and vibe, but I guess we were worried for nothing!"
Although "Home" wasn't written to send a message, NERiMA won't be upset if you take away a lesson of your own.
"It wasn’t meant to be any sort of inspirational song really, especially considering its themes and conflict of right and wrong- I’d never ask you all to go around breaking your morals," said Orial. "But in a way it ended up with a bit of a message if you’d take it, with the idea that sometimes fighting back is more important than being kind, and fighting for yourself and what you believe in is always worth it, even if the world opposes you or says otherwise."
By visiting the band's socials and purchasing from their Bandcamp linked below, you can help support the musicians during these financially tough times.
"The biggest way listeners can show their support and make our day is by streaming our music and engaging with it, specifically our newest single "Home", available on all platforms!" said Nicole. "At the end of the day, our goal is for our music to reach you in any way it can, so listening and telling us your thoughts is amazing, and it genuinely makes us so happy to interact back with you all. We'll also eventually be coming out with merch, so keep an eye out for that!"
Upcoming gigs:
(Postponed due to COVID-19.)