[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]W[/dropcap]hen I saw Selfish Things come across my desk I (rather selfishly) knew it was an indulgence I couldn’t pass up.
I’ve been following this band for a while as they’ve been journeying the Canadian rock scene and beyond, and I jumped at the chance to properly review upcoming EP ‘Vertical Love’. Although decked out with industry support in both the UK and Canada, they don’t get half the recognition they deserve and this EP will get everyone else around them to stand up and take notice. The band blend simple, easy listening rock motifs with pop/adult contemporary to create something familiar yet fresh in its own right.
With ‘Vertical Love’, Selfish Things have six songs about love, loss, discovery, and eventually triumph over questions that many of us have on a day to day basis. “‘Vertical Love’ came into being after what was one of the most tumultuous periods of my life,” explains lead singer Alex Biro. “I’ve always had a tendency to contemplate whether or not we choose the path we walk, or whether god/the universe/deity has placed us on a path that we have no control over”. Lead single ‘8147 Mulholland Terrace’ explores just that; discussing how we’re out of control of our of daily lives as each passing year brings us closer to it all being over. They up with ‘1435’, releasing the video at the end of January.
‘1435’ is a piano driven ballad that conveys an incredibly strong message wrapped up in cute lyrics, where their lyricist puts everything he has out there. What I want to really touch on though is the star of this record, a song called ‘Hangman’. The band initially released this back in September and it’s now been brought up to speed to exist with the rest of the EP. This song epitomises exactly what turned me onto this band a few years back – well written songs that can elicit an emotional response from the music alone, catchy-as-hell vocals, and non-traditional song structure.
Those elements come together to make this band different and it makes them stand out amidst the dreck of what the Toronto in-crowd decides is cool. As many of their peers choose to jump on the burgeoning emo bandwagon, Selfish Things have shown they don’t need to be trendy to release something that demands attention.
This is a record you don’t want to sleep on. This is a band that you don’t want to ignore, because in six months all your friends will be going on about the cool new Canadian band called Selfish Things. ‘Vertical Love’ is out March 16th through Wolf At Your Door Records in the UK and Europe. Buy it, stream it, love it.
