Memramcook, New Brunswick’s Open Strum recently released “Wildfire,” a standalone single about coping with everything the world is currently throwing at us, but with the foresight to recognize we don’t want to be singing along to the problems on 2018 forever.
Produced by Sébastien Michaud (les Païens, Simon Daniel), with Open Strum‘s Michel Goguen dead center on acoustic guitar, “Wildfire” also features George Belliveau and Frank Goguen on vocals, Dillon Robicheau (mandolin), Danny Bourgeois (drums), Mike Bourgeois (electric guitar).
The song perhaps implies that, much like Bruce Lee suggests we become empty, formless and shapeless like water, perhaps the best method for surviving our current climate is to become a wildfire. That might just work if you’re living in California, that state-wide echo or the dumpster fire on America’s eastern coast. Or maybe we should adapt to the incendiary nature of an online comment section, the collective digital representation of our primal egos.
Whatever the case, Goguen has been wise to keep it vague to prolong the song’s shelf life. There will, no doubt, be new troubles to sing of later.
“It was sort of my answer to what’s going on around us. I try to make lyrics that I’ll enjoy singing for a long time, and when I see the challenges people face it pushes me to try and help out and make some kind of positive difference. That’s how this one was developed for me,” says Goguen.
Goguen explains that “Wildfire” is not about any specific challenge, we’re facing, but that there’s no shortage of them to pick from.
“I just try and read-up on as many world topics or issues as I can. I personally feel that if we worked together more we would probably solve a lot of issues faster. I could be wrong though,” laughs Goguen, “I would rather try and help each other out!”
Apparently, there is one exception to our current woes that Goguen refuses to write about though.
“I refuse to write a Trump song because then I’ll have to sing about him for 20 years. I try my best to stay and keep it positive without being too cheesy. It’s a challenge I find, but that’s the goal!”
Goguen says that he has at least a year or two before releasing his upcoming album, but when it’s finished he says there will be songs that are released in both French and English. In the meantime, he teases that he’ll be putting out another track in February that comes with a middle eastern vibe.