Fucked Up (photo by Janine Kaufer)
Long running Canadian hardcore band, Fucked Up, have announced a brand new album, One Day, and shared the passionate title track.
The album is so named because it is literal—the album was written and each band member contributed their parts in twenty four hour time periods. The idea to approach the album this way came to guitarist Mike Haliechuk towards the end of 2019, who said it helped him “reconnect with the core of his and the band’s songwriting essence in the process.” He explained “I wanted to see what I could record in one day. After you’ve been in a band for this long, you lose track of what your sound actually is,” continuing, “Twenty-four hours can feel like a long time, but you can get a lot done then, too. It can feel like forever and one minute at the same time. If you work on something for one day, it can end up being really special.”
Each band member completed their parts remotely, adhering to the twenty four hour rule in place for their contributions. Drummer Jonah Falco saying “I got this email from Mike saying ‘I made this record in one day, and I want you to record drums on it—but you can’t listen to it before you get into the studio’. I saw layers upon layers of guitar loops, and I dove in head-first and came out with a finished record.”
Vocalist Damian Abraham was set to complete his vocal parts when the Covid lockdowns hit and the album was subsequently shelved for two years to allow the band to complete their epic Year of the Horse project. But the delay and the isolation of lockdown did have creative benefits and Abraham returned to writing lyrics for the first time since 2014’s Glass Boys. On the lyrical themes he elaborated “What do I want to say to friends who aren’t here anymore? What do I want to say to myself? There was a lot of inner reflection going on, and after retreating into the fantasy world withYear of the Horse, this record is like we’re returning to real life,” also saying that at the time “It almost felt like it might be the last time I’d ever get to record vocals for anything.”
Fucked Up live in 2019 (photos by Kate Hoos)
“This record is about how we see time passing in our lives,” Falco continued “It represents the realization of what Fucked Up’s songwriting process has always been, which is the genesis of an idea from one person spread to other members. All of the development happened spontaneously with this album, which meant no time to second-guess. You had to be confident.”
One Day cover art
The song is paired with a new music video directed by Colin Medley who said “When I first heard ‘One Day,’ it sounded to me like a song about two people overcoming all odds to find love and happiness with each other. Right away I knew that I wanted to tell the story through two dancers. I decided to shoot at the Great Hall in Toronto the day Fucked Up were scheduled to play a show there. I plotted out the basic structure of the video, deciding that it would end with the two characters searching for each other in the crowd as Fucked Up performed on stage.” The dance performances were choreographed by Lauren Runions and feature dancers Amanda Pye and Tavia Christina.
Watch the video below and stream the track on all major streamers. One Day is available for pre-order now and releases in full on January 27, 2023 via Merge.