Dali Van Gogh are leaning into the theme of 2020 with a new track, , “Boneyard,” that they describe as “a high energy ode to our times.” Produced by Juno-nominated songwriter Rob Laidlaw, best known as bassist of the legendary Canadian rock bands Platinum Blonde and Honeymoon Suite, the band get into character with their enigmatic “Preacher” loudly tackling a laundry list of misfortunes and misdeeds.
Dali Van Gogh’s “Preacher” character will be a little more familiar to anyone who spent some time with their 2017 release, From Ashes. “So you think you found god?,” roars the Preacher with a conviction that lets us know that we clearly haven’t.
The band go about 20% harder than on their 2019 album, Under Her Spell, but it’s moderate with plenty of polish and a strong contrast between band’s vocalists John Scotto and Rachelle Moreau. Presumably, we’re hearing the production influences of Laidlaw and engineer Adam Newcomb there, not to mention the recent addition of new bassist Lance Hicks.
“It’s an honour to work with this killer original rock band from Halifax,” says Laidlaw. “Dali Van Gogh has been writing their best material yet. ‘Boneyard’ is hook-laden new rock energy, can’t wait to hear it on the radio. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of Canada’s best enduring bands and this outfit is perched to make a major impact on the Universal Rock scene.”
Written by Scotto, the song addresses the myriad concerns we face as both a society and as a species and asks to “open our eyes” so we can finally do something about it.
“It seems like every other week there’s some other kind of catastrophe that is entirely of our own making,” says Scotto. “Every day we see corruption on massive levels, pollution, violence all over the world, and it feels like a lot of us have purposefully blinded ourselves to it. We’re just apathetic at this point. I feel like we have destructive tendencies that we refuse to address as a society. People are far more upset about little inconveniences than the actual, very serious, problems we face. I’m trying to address some of that here.”