Defuser’s self-proclaimed mantra is an accurate one: “high energy at all costs.” It’s a sentiment that echoes loud and clear on their newest single, “Revenant.”
The song comes almost a full year after the official release of their initial EP, To Jerry, With Love. The Charlottetown rockers have remained true to the alternative funk sound that was introduced on their EP. Influences like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters are apparent in the groovy bass lines and vocals that hit like a truck.
Screeching static opens the track before breaking into the steady, thriving rhythm that drives the rest of the song. It feels triumphant, like the perfect kind of energy you’d want to usher in a new era or album.
Award-winning producer Jon Matthews lent his ear to the song, and it shows. There’s a noted improvement in production quality from the band’s last release. Vocals sound crisper, instrumentals more polished—the band certainly aren’t messing around with this new release. Everything about it comes with the air of a seasoned group, despite the band’s relatively recent conception in 2017.
A passion for bringing people together with music is a thread that ties Defuser together. This energy somehow seeps into their songwriting. What started as a garage band has now become a well-oiled machine, driven only by a love of music. It’s easy to tell by listening to them that they’re passionate about what they do and proud of what they create. It seems that “halfhearted” is not a word in any of the members’ vocabularies.
Defuser has started 2019 off on a gut-punching high note. If ‘Revenant’ is any indication of how the year is going to go for the band, then it’s certainly going to be a good one.
You can catch them performing the single live at Hunter’s Ale House in Charlottetown, January 11th, 2019, at 11 p.m. alongside The Noisy Crows.