Photo credit: Hwa-JeenNa
Today, Grand Rapids, Michigan based indie rock band The Crane Wives share hypnotizing, healing track and lyric video “Scars” out everywhere now. The self-produced, rousing fifth studio album Beyond Beyond Beyond is due out September 6 and available for pre-order now.The band is currently on tour in the Western U.S. and will celebrate the new album on release day with a show in Grand Rapids, MI. Get tickets here and catch them on their newly added dates this fall.
“Scars” is an intimate processing of past trauma and shines a light on the ways one’s life experiences–positive and negative–shape who one becomes. It is a murky exploration of how past trauma can follow a person their entire life, surprising them in how it manifests. The track was born from vocalist and guitarist Emilee Petersmark‘s own experiences as an adopted child and the hardships that come with it. The haunting, crawling guitar and bass riffs, dragging, bombastic percussion, and heavy counter-melodies help create a sense of underlying tension, while the lyrics paint a scathing picture of a relationship that struggles to exist.
The personal track recalls an older song of the band’s and allows Petersmark to process her experiences, better understand the dynamics at play in a family and maturation, and ultimately learn more about herself as she continues to grow. “I see ‘Scars’ as a companion piece to one of our older songs, ‘Never Love an Anchor’. I wrote both songs from a place of exploring how being adopted has touched my life, in good ways and in hard ways. I think we often forget how much trauma is involved in the process of losing a family, even when you gain another, and this song felt like a big step in accepting that trauma, particularly the painful, ugly ways it manifests and follows you into adulthood.”
Petersmark notes one must understand the origins of pain in order to heal from it. “When you don’t do the work to understand that trauma, it becomes easy to wonder if there’s just something fundamentally wrong with you. Knowing where those feelings come from and accepting all of the good and bad that come with it makes it easier to actually heal.”
Despite its driving, upbeat guitar riffs and playful energy, “Bitter Medicine,” is an ode to impostor syndrome, the internalized shame of having others look up to you for guidance on a subject you feel like you’re failing at. Drummer Dan Rickabus and bassist Ben Zito create a bouncing groove that turns the self-deprecating lyrics into a cathartic confession: “don’t look up to me.”
Beyond Beyond Beyond, the fifth studio record by The Crane Wives, explores the mixture of fear, joy, and deep vulnerability that occurs when a person is on the cusp of changing the course of their life. The eleven track album is a circular journey that asks heavy questions of the listener: Am I strong enough to change? Am I brave enough to take the risk? Do I deserve the chance to be happy? It offers the listener momentum to move forward, a guide through dark spaces with shimmery other-worldly melodies and an encouraging push to venture forth into the unknown.
Beyond Beyond Beyond is an electric departure from the Crane Wives’ previous releases, prominently highlighting the lead guitar work of songwriters and singers Kate Pillsbury and Emilee Petersmark. Drummer Dan Rickabus contributes darker, stormy and dynamic rhythms to this record, while bassist Ben Zito creates narrative movement in the songs with his rooting, counter-melodic approach. The album is self-produced by the four-piece collaboration, and engineered & mixed by Zito at his studio, Centennial Sound. The band invited guest violinist Samantha Cooper and guest cellist Jordan Hamilton to help portray a distinct emotional voice. The album was mastered by Heba Kadry. The band’s longtime collaborator, visual artist Rebecca Green returned to create her fifth piece of album artwork for the project.
Rickabus shares that the band collaborated like never before throughout the album creation process. “We tried to challenge ourselves to shake loose from our old patterns and explore what is possible between the four of us. Those brave experiments mean even more to me when I think about the lyrical content of the album. The album begins with inner-conflict, and moves through a very human process of growth toward a bold belief in possibility, and an attempt to create change. So, that sense of creative experimentation really resonates.”
In July, the group shared the lead single “Arcturus Beaming,” a rhythmic, gentle exploration of simultaneous grief and gratitude, one that holds onto a belief in a better future. The song’s building energy culminates in a realization of personal empowerment. “Nothing will change until I change.”
The Crane Wives are busy captivating audiences throughout North America and have just added a slew of dates for the fall across Texas, California and more. On album release day, the group will play an official album release show in their home town of Grand Rapids, MI on September 6. See a full list of dates below and get tickets now here for the remaining summer dates and upcoming fall dates.
The Crane Wives formed in 2010 and have captivated audiences across hundreds of stages around the U.S. since. The band has built a global community and has amassed over 1M Spotify monthly listeners and 100M total streams with their unparalleled, spirited live show, evocative lyricism and glimmering harmonies. The group has shared stages with The Avett Brothers, Lake Street Dive, Rusted Root, The Dead South, Joseph, and more. In 2017, they won JBL’s “Best American Band Contest” and were named one of Paste Magazine’s “12 Michigan Acts You Should Be Listening To Now,” Featured by Michigan Radio and NPR’s “All Songs Considered”, the band has been the recipient of several local accolades such as the WYCE Best Rock/Pop album for their 2016 full-length studio record, Foxlore. Now, in 2024, The Crane Wives prepare to enter an all-new, dynamic phase of their artistic identity where they learn to trust themselves, dive deeper lyrically and take sonic risks like never before.
“Scars,” the poignant, swirling track out now, allows The Crane Wives to reflect on past experiences as they forge a path toward healing. Beyond Beyond Beyond, the rich, layered fifth LP by The Crane Wives is due out September 6 and available for pre-order now. Don’t miss The Crane Wives live this month and next across North America with tickets on sale now here. Connect with the rising rockers now on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X and YouTube.
Watch “Bitter Medicine” (Official Video) | Listen
Watch: “Arcturus Beaming” (Official Lyric Video) | Listen
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