One glacial December, Sarin spent a week recording, eating and sleeping at the Sugar Shack Studio in London, ON. With the help of owner and engineer Simon Larochette (Chastity, Familiars), they endeavoured to create and capture something more energetic than their austere back catalogue.
Piles of vintage amps were strung together and dubbed ‘tone mountain’, drum sets were tested and Frankenstein’d until each kick shook the walls, basses were reset for chest-blasting low end, and effect pedals were taken apart and re-wired for searing distortion. Necks were sprained, feedback was gained, eardrums literally burst.
It wasn’t just a time of sonic transformation, either. Two of five members had left, and those who remained found themselves facing several personal crossroads at the time of recording; watching the doors close on people and parts of their lives that’d once been so important. The result is ‘You Can’t Go Back’: An urgent and emotionally charged missive designed to document and celebrate a period of pressing uncertainty.
Written in the wake of several crumbling relationships, the record centers on the conscious effort towards change; recognizing behaviours and circumstances that make joy scarce, and working to limit their hold on life. The album’s lyrical themes are present in the tonally dense and memorable song structures that build tension throughout, creating an energised and uplifting feeling atypical for the genre.
Although “You Can’t Go Back” is imbued with enough silver linings to make the album an inspirational listen, the process of change – and all its agonising facets – is never far from view.
