It’s been a little over 4 years since we premiered CHALK HANDS’ debut EP here on IDIOTEQ and boy we missed these guys a lot! Their new album “Don’t Think About Death” is out March 18th 2022 on Dog Knights Productions, and today we’re stoked to give you their new outstanding song and video “Fail, Grasp, Restore”, along with a special commentary from the band’s guitarist, vocalist and visual artist Tommy.
‘Fail, Grasp, Restore’ is not only the first Single to be released from their debut album, “Don’t Think About Death”, but it is also the opening track. “The song was written with intent to metaphorically open a door into the concept that the title of the album embodies” – says Tommy. ” With hope to elicit both a sense of chaos, but also a calm within the centre of it all, ‘F,G,R’ Like a lot of our music, is designed to take the listener on a journey of peaks and valleys and everything in between. Starting with dramatic, almost wave-like crashes, we hope to set the scene for what is yet to come.”
Words by Tommy:
Lyrics
Lyrically, the song takes on the issues of doubt, confidence and ultimately accepting who you are and the choices you have made, taking all of this on and using it to better yourself.
In the first half of the song we tried to convey the ever changing nature of believing in ourselves. There are days where you feel sure of who you are and the paths you are taking. But however confident a person you feel you are, there are always things that could potentially shatter that confidence. This song is about how you allow those moments to affect you and how you choose to move forward.
As we approach the final stages of the song, the rising gang vocals chant the cyclical process of that ever changing belief in ourselves: “Fail, Grasp, Restore, You’ve left your skin before. Relive, Retract, Endure, You should be striving for more.”
We, as humans, hope to leave behind the thoughts and feelings that slow us down, and if we can’t leave them behind we hope to at least come to terms with the fact these things exist or existed. We create and find new ways to cope with life and all of its ebbs and flows. But we only have one body, one skin and a relatively short amount of time in the grand scheme of things. What will you do with the time you have left?
That face you hold is a subtle blend of confidence and haste
You’ve made it clear, your faith and reasonThe way you act and say you are casting words to waste
Your past holds you here, with your fading reasonsYou may say you are, claim you are
A flaw is worth its weight
That one fail
A shard, a splinter
A second wind of hate
A shard, a splinter
Of hope and dismay
Of hope and dismay
Of hope and dismay
Shed from meFail, grasp, restore
You’ve left your skin before
Relive, retract, endure
You should be striving for more
The Video
First off, for the video we worked with the most excellent dude, Doug Elliott. Doug is a friend of the band, but also just such a talented and lovely guy. We didn’t leave ourselves a huge amount of time to get this video completed and ready for release, so we put a lot of trust in Dougs skill to make this video work. It’s safe to say that we are so chuffed with the results.
Using only a mid-sized rehearsal space in pease pottage, some black curtains, a fog machine and some pretty lighting, Doug not only managed to capture the mood, intensity and at points delicate nature, but he managed to keep up with the song’s erratic ways and add a unique flare that we couldn’t be happier with.
To aid the fun had on the day, the rehearsal rooms in pease pottage shared grounds with a large aviary that housed some of the biggest ravens we have ever seen (one absolute charmer called badger). But we have to shout out the legend that is ‘Pie, the magpie’, the friendliest, most intelligent lil’ fella, we couldn’t have asked for a better mate to spend our breaks chatting to. Doug, after numerous heart to heart, walked away with a friend for life.
The Artwork
All the art made for ‘Don’t Think About Death’ is created to fit within its own world, an aesthetic that is consistent throughout the album’s visual content.
Featured in the artwork for ‘Fail, Grasp, Restore’, two ghostly hands are seen supporting, or holding the trunk of a horizontal tree. Is the image in a picture frame or seen through a window? For me, It’s hard to tell.
The concept of the illustration plays with human connectivity to what makes you feel real and stable as an individual. Personally, and for a lot of people I know, nature is an enabler to feeling stable, level headed and at peace with our surroundings. Trees live long, adapt to their surroundings and grow thick skin, you may call me a nemophilist.
All of my drawings have an edge of the abstract and surreal, so please make of them what you wish.
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