Brisbane Metalcore outfit Bad Party have released their moody arena-ready alternative metal offering Drown In You.
Their second tune of the year produced, mixed and mastered by Callan Orr at Avalanche Studios (Dream On Dreamer, Bad Juju, alt.), Drown In You carries sultry undertones, following on from their February single Pray, leaning into dark synth soundscapes and seductive lyricism.
Drown In You is their second single with new vocalist Dale Dudeson of fellow Brisbane metalcore outfit Revoid. Their new single is about being enamoured by a person, so much so that a sense of self is lost.
“Drown In You is about a love bordering on addiction,” explains the band. “Causing you to forget all about who you are and your own well-being. This song is ultimately romanticising the gravity of affection, while gradually succumbing to the danger of its depths.”
Bad Party is Daniel Long and Alex Nisiriou (formerly of Chronolyth) on guitars, Campbell Henderson on bass, and Dale Dudeson on vocals. HEAVY Mag sat down with the band to learn a little more about the fiery new tune…
HEAVY: You release your latest track Drown In You today, tell us about how that song came together and what it’s about?
Dale: Drown In You was intended to be a ballad about the conflict of obsession and love, being so overwhelmed and enthralled by someone that you lose who you are to the point of self-destruction. As Pray and Drown In You were written around the same time, I like to think of them as two sides of the same coin; Pray being horny, freaky, and power-driven, and Drown In You being pure, deep, and vulnerable.
The song takes a more moody, melodic approach compared to previous single Pray, did that come more naturally for this track or was that a decision by the band to experiment more in that space?
Daniel: Drown In You was written before Dale joined the band, and was handed to him as one of the first songs we wanted to lay vocals down for; a sort of test to see if we all had the same idea of what direction to aim for, and he nailed it. Pray was the vessel we used to introduce Dale and show what we’re capable of, but we wanted the next single to showcase diversity, feeling, and really just be something a little different from our catalogue.
There’s a large array of sounds and influences mixed into Bad Party’s brand of metalcore, should listeners expect the unexpected with future Bad Party releases?
Daniel: Absolutely. We’re currently in a position where we have a pretty wide range of music to choose from for our future releases, and all our favourites are a spread of a few genres. We want to avoid bottlenecking our creativity by having to abide by the rules of one genre, or define ourselves by a list of ‘for fans of…’ bands. I’ve put a few things forward to the boys where I’ve had to extensively justify my thoughts behind why it would work haha, but there is much softer, and much heavier music to come.
You worked with Ten of Swords on the videos for both Pray and Drown In You, tell us a bit about what it was like on set for those clips and what was the most important thing to bring to life making them?
Daniel: Anyone who has worked with Colin knows that when he’s in the driver’s seat, you’re getting his best work every time. Most of us had worked with Colin in the past on other projects, but were waiting for the right song to come around that we knew would match his energy and support the quality of his work. ‘Pray’ was that song, and was such a fun and wholesome experience to have had with all our friends involved. We’re so happy to have immortalised the day with that music video. ‘Drown In You’ was significantly less demanding, and yet the experience was just as fulfilling as we watched everything come together (albeit listening to the song 20 times at 200% speed while being eaten alive by mosquitos). We learned a lot in the lead up to, and on set of both clips, but the most important thing was to trust the vision, enjoy the experience, and put everything you have into the performance.
There’s a dark cinematic feel to the Drown In You clip. If you could pick anything, what movie would Bad Party write the soundtrack to?
Daniel: It’s so cool to hear that interpretation, because I absolutely get inspired by movie or game soundtracks and some of my favourites are the darker, ambient soundscapes of Interstellar, Black Mass, Batman vs Superman, or the game Returnal etc. If we were to rewrite the soundtrack for something that exists already, I think we could put a cool spin on The Matrix (specifically Reloaded).
