Coinciding with Halloween, their favorite day of the year, alt rock stalwarts The Nearly Deads have released the blazing new anthem, “Relentless,” the electrifying first taste of their forthcoming 2nd full-length, ‘We Are The Nearly Deads’.
On the new missive, a taut call to arms, the quartet have expertly crafted the melodic palpating rocker with all the hallmarks of what fans have come to know and love from the accomplished band. With a searing mosh-pit main riff fueling an infectious bit of pop bombast and a bridge that goes full brass, replete with a marching, militaristic crescendo before dipping into a sea of sweeping ivories, a lush pulpit for inimitable vocalist Theresa Jeane to mightily deliver a rousing fist-in-the-air proclamation of strength and affirmation, it’s a rousing anthem that harkens back to their breakthru hit “Never Look Back.” Wire to wire, it sounds like the ordained paean for the next generation of The Hunger Games.
This world is relentless but so am I
(No I won’t surrender)
A force to be reckoned I’ve built my defenses
(No I won’t back down)
“Relentless” marks the first of four cuts to be released in advance of the LP arriving next spring. While the group writes collaboratively, each of the forthcoming singles gives each individual band member an opportunity to highlight their own style and influences within the broader context. The artwork accompanying each single will feature a teen-era photo of their formative self, now full realized. Lead guitarist Steven Tobi was first up, sporting a brazen Pistols-era mohawk.
“Like most of the songs I write, Relentless began as a riff. Early on, the riff used in the intro and choruses kept sticking out to me, so from there we built the song around that energy. As the bridge was coming together I began to notice the song had a bit of a marching rhythm and militaristic vibe, so it just felt right to lean into that with both the lyrics and instrumentation. It was that realization which sparked the idea to incorporate a brass section into the song which I feel is something unique for a rock anthem,” offered Tobi.
“For the lyrical theme, I had been thinking a lot about regret, human nature, cancel culture and the idea that we all have these memories that no one but ourselves know about because we are either too afraid or embarrassed to reveal. TJ liked the idea and took it further, expressing that there is an unspoken pressure to be “perfect” coming from both social media and society; therefore we become ashamed and even scared of revealing the honest versions of ourselves. With that in mind, the song developed into what we hope is an empowering message to love yourself entirely, both your success and failures. Live a transparent life with no regrets,” continued Tobi.
The four-piece, which also features guitarist Javier Garza Jr. and drummer Josh Perrone, rocketed to stardom with the playful-yet-powerful “Never Look Back,” and its 10-million strong zombie-laced music video. The kinetic energy of the song provided an apt soundtrack to the exhilarating catharsis of out-running the walking dead, both literally and figuratively.
Running is in their blood. Over the past decade, The Nearly Deads have traversed the U.S. with the likes of In This Moment, Butcher Babies, Stitched Up Heart, and It Lives, It Breathes, while playing shows with Halestorm, Icon For Hire, The Dead Deads, Kaleido, and The All-American Rejects, among many others.
Buoyed by the passionate support of ZombieNation, their global legion of fans, the group’s sophomore album is the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to their critically-acclaimed debut, Invisible Tonight, which the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dubbed, “A nifty mix of Paramore and Katy Perry.”
In between official full-lengths, the group has continued to churn out anthem and earworms. Notable highlights include “Freakshow,” “My Evil Ways,” “Can’t Make You Change,” the frisky “Punk Rock Kitty Cat,” and their recent Unearthed Ep which eloquently reformulated five fan favorites with a vibey ethereal panache.
Connect with The Nearly Deads
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