Wintersleep’s “Amerika”: More Than Politics
Wintersleep‘s first single “Amerika”, from their sixth LP “The Great Detachment”, is a humble reminder of how thin the line between hopeful and helpless can often become, especially under the shadow of great uncertainty.
It’s difficult to argue how wonderful the song itself is. With it’s anthemic catchy hooks, siren-like vocal transitions, bold guitar licks and beautifully layered harmonies – ultimately contrasted by the seriousness of the subject matter at hand – to it’s unmistakable Walt Whitman influences. But, perhaps the best part of all is the fact that it’s accompanying masterpiece of a music video makes it even better.
With the help of Director Scott Cudmore, lead singer Paul Murphy and the Alt/Indie Rock quintet crafted a touching and memorable seven minute short-film for the song. On the surface, the song is about America’s past and it’s current uncertain future. The video, however, reveals that the song is about much more than politics alone, and lends a hand in a beautifully effective way to raising up the hatches and allowing for a glance at what lurks beneath.
The video seems to help portray that above all, the song is more about people and the human condition in general – where we’ve been and where we find ourselves today as a collective. Things like family, love, loss and a predisposed fear of the unknown. The moral of the story seems to be that in the wake of a country that some would say is falling apart, love can and will forever exist.
“Our family is connected by a string. It stretches between all of us, so it doesn’t matter where you are or how far you go I will know that you are thinking about me, and that you love me, because the string will make a sound.”
“The Great Detachment” was released March 4th of this year from Dine Alone Records. Two weeks after it’s release, “Amerika” jumped to #1 on the Billboard Rock Charts, marking it as the first chart-topper in the format from a Canadian Artist since Sam Roberts Band achieved the feat in 2014.
Check out the video below
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