EXCLUSIVE Canadian music legend — and recent Order of Canada recipient — Art Bergmann today releases the third single, Your Second Amendment, from his highly anticipated album Late Stage Empire Dementia, set for release May 21 on (weewerk). As one of the album’s rootsier songs, “Your Second Amendment” tears down American mythology, accompanied by its video comprised of old Hollywood imagery juxtaposed with the human toll of western expansion.
Art sums up Your Second Amendment’s message succinctly by saying, “Somewhere a bullet punctures another soft innocent body and a gun manufacturer laughs until he wets his pants.” The video’s creator, Roy Pike, adds, “To be lucky enough to work with Art again, after THIRTY years, is so fucking cool. The world is beautiful. Bullets are not.”
As one of Canadian punk rock’s foundational artists, Art Bergmann remains an unflinching societal critic on Late Stage Empire Dementia Its eight songs sonically run the gamut from the jagged, speaker-shredding rock he’s long been known for, to the experimental, acoustic-based soundscapes he introduced on his 2016 Polaris Music Prize long-listed album The Apostate. Lyrically, Bergmann takes aim at political corruption, the dual unchecked epidemics of guns and drugs, and the plight of refugees yearning for a better life.
Late Stage Empire Dementia was recorded throughout 2020, with basic tracks laid down in Calgary at Lorrie Matheson’s studio Arch Audio and most other tracks completed at Russell Broom’s studio, Broom Closet. Although Broom and longtime Neko Case collaborator Paul Rigby handle the bulk of the guitar playing, the song “Christo-Fascists” features a rare guest appearance by legendary MC5 co-founder Wayne Kramer, whose trademark buzzsaw tone remains as potent as ever.
Yet, for each great example of politically charged rock on Late Stage Empire Dementia, such as the previous single “Entropy,” there is an expansive, hypnotic piece like “Los Desaparecidos (Border Art)” or the nearly 10-minute title track that further illuminates Art’s evolution as a songwriter—completely unafraid to enter uncharted territory. It is that bravery that makes Art Bergmann’s voice as important as ever, and places Late Stage Empire Dementia easily among his finest works.
Photo credit: David Kotsibie
