Vancouver-based daysormay’s new song opens with ‘I been holding my tongue way too long…‘ and ends with important commentary on human rights in 2020 and beyond.
If you haven’t listened to daysormay yet, you should start. With music that defies genre and lyrics that are equal parts thoughtful and sing-along-able, it’s only a matter of time before Aidan, Nolan, and Carson, are household names.
After discovering them a few years back, daysormay has quickly become one of my favourite bands, and I even got a chance to interview them earlier this month for New Music Now. Their newest single, Holding My Tongue (lovingly referred to as HMT), is unlike anything they have written before.
Although some have been quick to label it another political song in 2020, it’s important to note that HMT isn’t about politics. Aidan Andrews, the front man and main songwriter of the band is quick to say “this isn’t a political statement, this is me saying that people need to stop being killed. It’s about human rights”.
Andrews started writing the song in 2014, when he was only fifteen years old, after he saw the video of Eric Garner being killed by the NYPD. The horrifying reality of police brutality in the US and around the world stuck with him, and after writing it for a few years and touring it a couple times, daysormay recorded the song in the summer of 2018. Little did they know how horribly relevant lyrics like “death on the sidewalks, I can’t breathe…” would still be when they released it on 23 October 2020.
Black Lives Matter
The concept of Holding My Tongue is something many people can relate to; being horrified about what’s going on, wanting to speak up, not knowing how and fearing the effects of what you might say. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we must take action, educate ourselves, and speak up for what’s right. It’s not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist. Black. Lives. Matter.
With their signature alt-rock sound complimented with synths and killer vocals, this is another hit from daysormay. A young band from the interior of BC releasing fresh and powerful music is just what we need right now. It’s time to stop holding your tongue.
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
You highlight a really good point about human rights not being a political issue but an issue of simple humanity. This band seems to be spreading an important message, and it’s great to see you helping them in that effort!