Magnetic North have had enough. The Halifax-based four-piece have released the dismissive “Want Out,” a song that you might apply, to your heart’s content, to whatever situation you’re currently trying to extricate yourself from.
Leaving the lyrics open to some interpretation, so as to be best encapsulate any number of unpleasant scenarios, Magnetic North were clearly dealing with a bad situation, while taking inspiration from mid-’90s juggernauts like Mathew Good and Stone Temple Pilots with a side of the Misfits.
Given the state of 2020, those unpleasant scenarios could be any number of things or combinations thereof, and while the band went into the single writing about a relationship that had spoiled, it could just as easily apply to your poorly planned quarantine (not to be confused with the rather unfortunate and misguided notion of a plandemic).
“I tried to write the lyrics in a way that was open to interpretation, so it ties into relationships and a pandemic. People can relate to it loosely on how they think it is,” says David McNeil, Magnetic North’s vocalist. “Sort of like ‘Time Of Your Life’ is a Grade 12 review song, year after year, even though it’s about a breakup.
“It’s about being overwhelmed by being in a situation where things seem to be at a standstill but everything keeps moving forward and you can’t seem to get your footing. It’s not what you anticipated it to be and having to look for the truth through all of the lies and misdirection and you’re doing your best to get through it. The chorus is the breaking point of all the frustration. Trying to get away from it all.
In the case of the pandemic, McNeil specifically applies that sentiment to the massive spread of misinformation regarding the virus, particularly within America. More than the fact that people are required to commit to isolation (with varying degrees of success), McNeil explains it’s the amount of energy being committed to sifting through the noise and shifting policies that have emerged from a disaster being politicized by an election.
Your political beliefs shouldn’t have to be impacted by a health belief in science, and neither should your relationships. Should you discover either to be the case, as Magnetic North warn, you’re going to want out.