Every March have releasd their new single ‘To Stay Above Ground’

Every March are nothing if not prolific, since their inception in 2020 the band have already released 6 singles and 3 three albums, all conceptually different. Building on that already bulging back catalogue the band return with a new single in the form of their most immediate and vital song to date, ‘To Stay Above Ground’. Every March are centered around songwriter Barry Shields who cut his teeth in the revered Belfast band The Vals, their success saw them tour Europe with the legendary Paul Weller and play support slots with Ocean Colour Scene, Turnin Brakes, The Zombies and Cast. On previous material Barry was the sole contributor but on latest offering ‘To Stay Above Ground’, the evolution comes in the form of having a full live band in the studio, playing and contributing to the song, shaping the sound, and adding to the immediacy felt on the track.

Joining Barry Shields (guitar/vocals), the live band on the song consist of Tom McShane (lead guitar/synth), Gillian McLean (piano), Gerard Brennan (bass) and Brain Steenson (drums). The process for writing and recording this track differed from Barry’s previous works. This time he presented the song to the band and gave them carte blanche as to their own parts, with the only aim being to serve the song. It’s a testament to each of the players taste then that they choose to play the parts they did, and refrain from adding a 12 minute November Rain-esque solo in the mid-section. When asked about the song writing process for the track Barry says ‘The song was written in an open guitar tuning and then transposed back into standard. This was a way to try to trick myself into new chord progressions.’

The track opens with some delicate picked guitar, like little rain drops bouncing off the window. When the band join there is a considerable shift as they add a push and pulse to proceedings. Gerard’s bass gives the song it’s melodic back bone, while Brian’s drums are the heartbeat of the track with a phat snare and thumpy kick locking the listener in, Barry’s rhythm guitar provides a subtle body to the track, Tom’s guitar dances around Barry’s vocal melody and Gillian’s piano acts as an exclamation point to everything. The interplay between the players is fantastic, everyone has their own space but still contributing to the overall melodic picture. The snakey lead during the chorus adds a touch of Dick Dale surf to the hopeful mellon collie of the song. Lyrically the song is about wanting to live life to the fullest, climbing the highest height and jumping off (safely) to remind yourself to live, to catch that buzz and electricity life can provide.
The artwork comes from a happenstance picture Barry had taken and forgotten about. When it came time to do the art work he was reminded of it and thought it captured the feel of the song, providing a visual language for the music.

The band recorded with Steve Farley, working out of his Narrow Water in Warrenpoint. The band choose to track the song live aiming to capture the emotion in the performance and those special lightning in a bottle moments.