“I’m really good at only writing songs about things that I’m not really good at, like being honest with anyone,” sings Cailen Pygott on the new album from No, It’s Fine. And while that seems like a self-fulling prophecy, I Promise has emerged as one of the most exciting releases of the year, even it is sort of a quirky confessional that Pygott has set to music.
At a brisk 28-minutes long, I Promise is short and sweet, or, at least endearing. Pygott delivers his lines in the mad screed of an inner monologue that’s really only confident in how unconfident he is. It’s a lot to take in with Pygott spewing this out at the speed of someone who is being eaten alive by their nagging insecurities, but a wild ride if you can hold on and something of a comfort if you can see yourself reflected in a million different ways in Pygott’s lyrics.
When it comes to voicing that stream of consciousness, Pygott holds up the track “Goldie” as a prime example of his most earnest work; bearing his soul to the world without a filter.
“I think that’s why the lyrics so effectively capture my cycle of feeling crappy, procrastinating doing anything about that feeling, rationalizing it, and then feeling crappy some more,” explains Pygott. “Named after [bandmate] kt’s golden SG that I wrote it on, the song’s title is also a wrestling reference. But that’s less important.”
In an album so full of personal confessions, it’s hard to pinpoint anything on the album that could be more autobiographical than “Pisces•Gemini•Libra”—give or take how much stock you put into astrology, or, at least Pygott’s stock in astrology. With this interpretation of stellar bodies, the album launches into a sort of justification for Pygott’s modus operandi.
“You can’t just keep blaming all your problems on astrology eventually you have to start taking responsibility for your actions and actively trying to change or improve upon these things that you hate so much about yourself,” sings Matty Grace, before the band launches into the remaining 26 minutes of an album that plays out like a painful, hilarious, and relatable cringe reel.
“Pisces•Gemini•Libra” in particular highlights the interplay between vocals, especially the contrasting pairing between Pygott and Tori Cameron, that gives the album a rare and wonderful sense of texture. It doesn’t hurt that the matter-of-fact Nada Surf approach to Pygott’s vocals immediately stand out, but it’s more than just the vocals. Presumably, the work of engineer and mixer Andrew Gagné has found an awfully nice balance for everything on the album and that makes it a real pleasure to listen to.
“We were very fortunate to have an amazing team of creatives to work with on the album,” says Pygott. “Andrew Gagné engineered and mixed it. His band Worst Part’s first EP was a huge inspiration on the tone of this record, so getting him on board was a huge win. Dean Hadjichristou (Protest the Hero, Obey the Brave, Parkway Drive) mastered. The artwork was created by Michelle Stanclick, with photography by Maddi Tang and cassette design by Sacha Stephan. Plus, a last-minute bonus assist from Heavenly Creature Records, with whom we are partnering for the release.”
From people-pleasing gone wrong to the disappointment of losing another lover, to a greater sense that every social interaction we’ve ever had has gone wrong and, at best, might be a lie, I Promise just barrels through a laundry list of insecurities. If WebMD were to produce an album about social anxieties, this would be it. And yet, somehow—maybe it’s the infectious pace it’s delivered at—each of these ten little quagmires comes out sounding like another page from a daily motivational calendar for the similarly introspective.
It’s an album that practically has its own Canadian passport, considering its apologetic nature. It’s an outpouring of anxieties like we’ve thrown a parade in celebration of Murphy’s Law, personal shortcomings and stubbornly self-afflicted failings. It’s an admission of things most people are probably guilty of on some level—one big mea culpa—and related back to us with a healthy dose of self-awareness and humour.
For all that, No, It’s Fine. hold true to that title, I Promise.