NORWEGIAN DREAM-POP BAND CHAIN WALLET RELEASE FIRST SINGLE “RIDE” FROM FORTHCOMING SOPHOMORE ALBUM NO RITUAL
Jansen Records and Bergen, Norway-based dream-pop band CHAIN WALLET are excited to present “Ride,” the first single to be lifted from the band’s forthcoming, sophomore studio album titled No Ritual. Out in February of 2019, No Ritual is the soaring sound of dreamy mythologies presented in widescreen. Picking up where the hazy, melancholic and undeniably catchy self-titled debut left off, the band returns with a lusher, and at the same time, more eerie sound.
Leading the album, “Ride” was actually the first song the band wrote for the LP overall. “Thematically, the song evokes elements of ‘the drifter on a cool bike’ trope,” the band said of the track. “It’s about riding away from something, not realizing that you can’t outride your own demons.” Accompanying the single release is the music video that features a homespun aesthetic keeping in line with the band’s nostalgic leanings. “To be honest, the idea for this video would be too complex to capture with the technology we had at hand (a VHS camera and iMovie),” the band continues. “We adjusted the artistic vision, and went for a literal interpretation of the title. This is why the video ended up being a neat collection of shots of the band riding different means of transportation, juxtaposed with shots in static environments.”
While Chain Wallet’s acclaimed self-titled debut album was dreamed up in their rainy hometown of Bergen, No Ritual, found its core members – Stian Iversen, Christian Line and Frode Boris – retreating to a small cabin on a remote beach in southwestern Norway. It was here among surfers, and while walking the beaches, they found out what kind of album they were going to make.
While you still can catch a glimpse of The Jesus & Mary Chain here or Johnny Marr there, Chain Wallet establish their own musical identity with No Ritual. Playing an important role in expanding the band’s sound on this record is Chiara Cavallari of the psychedelic shoegaze band FOAMMM. “We had been wanting to collaborate with Chiara for a long time, and her ethereal presence is fortunately scattered all over the album,” the band said of her involvement.
Both of Chain Wallet’s albums have followed loose and murky storylines about a conflicted protagonist. Where the first album revolved around themes such as unresolved ambition and attempts of letting go of the past, No Ritual finds our anti-hero in a state of spiritual limbo, reaching out and trying to establish new symbolic meanings. The album is a post-apocalyptic dive into the mythical life of the millennial mind.
Stay tuned for more music and Chain Wallet news in the months ahead.
Chain Wallet
No Ritual
(Jansen Records)
Release Date: February 2019
Artist Links
(Background Photo Credit: Øyvind Halsøy)
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHAIN WALLET – NO RITUAL
