Toronto punk/noise stalwarts Dearly Beloved have released another track from their upcoming new album Walker Park today, entitled “All Hat.” Walker Park is due to arrive January 24, 2023 on Sonic Unyon Records. Pre-save Walker Park here.
Discussing “All Hat”, Dearly Beloved’s Rob Higgins called it, “a tribute, of sorts, to the prog masters I grew up with. Rob Wright from NonMeansNo, the Rush guys, Les Claypool of Primus. The best example of pure catharsis on the record.”
Walker Park took shape while Higgins was writing and recording at home alone to cope with the pandemic. “I felt fortunate to have my studio, and used the time to teach myself mix engineering, allowing me to mix this album myself for the first time.” he notes. “Along with learning how to play the drums a little bit better, with the goal of reaching ‘shitty drummer’ status. So the songs on ‘Warker Park’ mostly started with simple beats and me overplaying on the bass — an element that at no point in the process got dialed back.”
Higgins produced Walker Park with band mate Tyler Beans – aka the production duo Slow Pineapple. It’s the band’s first since 2019’s Time Square Discount, which Get In Her Ears called, “ten tracks of thunderous, anthemic rock and roll,” along with garnering additional praise from outlets such as Billboard, Exclaim!, amongst others.
Regarding the album Higgins concludes, “‘Walker Park’ is the soundtrack to an as-yet-unmade film of the same name. Some turning points you just don’t come back from. Some turning points in our lives are so profound that the changes they inspire are of the fundamental variety.” The songs reflect the absurdity of those two years.
Walker Park is the seventh Dearly Beloved album in 15 years and the band will be touring Ontario this year and announcing a North American full tour for 2023.
Dearly Beloved are:
Rob Higgins – vocals, bass guitar
Niva Chow – vocals
KT Lamond – guitar, vocals
Dave Casey – guitar, vocals
Clare Macdonald – drums
Tyler Beans – Rhodes, Mellotron, samples
