Slothrust reveal the origins of the cheeky new song “Birthday Cake”: Stream

“Origins” is a recurring new music feature in which we commission an artist to explore the influences behind their latest single.

Slothrust will be released on September 14th The pactthe fourth LP from the fiery alt-rockers. Produced by Billy Bush in Los Angeles, the album was recorded with the confidence that comes from not being pressed for time. Unlike their last three LPs, the Los Angeles-based trio had time to experiment with this one, resulting in what they described in press materials as a true “studio album.”

Billboard previously debuted The pact‘s first single, “Peach”, and today Consequence of sound offers its follow-up, the delightfully cheeky “Birthday Cake”. Over snappy acoustic tunes, frontwoman Leah Wellbaum contrasts the helplessness we feel as adults with the casual exuberance of a child’s birthday party. The band’s trademark crunchy tone comes through as she takes on the sneering demeanor of a child who doesn’t care about the consequences: “It’s your party, treat me how you want,” she sings. “Your mother and aunt don’t care about me anyway.” Throughout the song, she sings several times about indifference – indifference to promises, aftermath, manipulation. Whether she’s serious or not remains unclear.

“Childhood really speaks to me, the way the inner child in you can look at the world with curiosity, as opposed to the harshness of adults,” she told Billboard, and that sentiment fits right in here.

Stream “Birthday Cake” below.

To gain further insight into the recipe for “Birthday Cake,” Wellbaum detailed the origins of the piece.

Children’s birthdays:

Some of my most vivid memories are from birthday parties when I was a child. When I was five, I went to this girl Olivia’s birthday party and her mother had hidden plastic eggs all over the yard with rubber dinosaur figures inside. I was obsessed. A piece of yarn connected one egg to the other and their yard was like a big net. Parents have done amazing things for their children’s birthday parties. Using pictures of them seemed like the right way to illustrate the feeling of having decisions made for you by others, for better or for worse.

PJ Harvey:

PJ Harvey, photo by Lior Phillips

PJ Harvey inspired me to forget who I am as an artist and just be whoever I want to be in the moment. In writing this record, I took on a lot of adjacent personas and let go of the idea that I have to be the performer. It really opened up my writing process. PJ is bold and when I heard her records, I wanted to take more risks and be less tied to her.

The circus:

When I close my eyes and listen to this song, I get the feeling of a strange improvised circus. A truly wild event with little consideration for the discomfort of the animals or people performing. The idea of ​​a “circus freak” has always stuck in my mind.

Puppetry:

Doll, photo by Charlotte Chanler

Sometimes I feel like a puppet. There are moments when I’m angry about it and others when I surrender to it. The lyrics in “Birthday Cake” explore both sides of that. At the end of the day, we are all truly our own puppet masters.

Nantucket:

Nantuck, photo by Charlotte Chanler

I wrote this song a few summers ago on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts when my girlfriend and I were visiting her family. I remember sitting outside on the grass with my classical guitar and playing that guitar intro over and over again. I remember the grass being so green it looked like it was glowing. I grew up in Massachusetts and summers there bring out creative energy in me.

The pact Artwork:

The pact Tracklist:
01. Double
02. Peach
03. Planetarium
04. Go away
05. Birthday cake
06. For Robin
07. The Haunted
08. New red pants
09. Fever dogs
10. In my thoughts
11. A kind of cowgirl
12. Travel fever

Slothrust will tour North America this fall in support of the new LP. The full list of dates can be found below.

Slothrust 2018 Tour Dates:
14.09. – Los Angeles, California @ The Lodge Room
15.09. – San Francisco, California @ Bottom of the Hill
18.09. – Boise, Idaho @ Olympic
19.09. – Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett
20.09. – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
21.09. – Portland, Oregon @ Mississippi Studios
22.09. – Bend, Oregon @ The Volcanic Theatre
24.09. – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge
27.09. – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
10/14 – Sacramento, California @ Aftershock Fest
19.10. – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hills Duck Room
20.10. – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar
23.10. – Madison, Wisconsin @ High Noon Saloon
10/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entrance
26.10. – Milwaukee, WI @ The Cooperage
27.10. – Chicago, Illinois @ Lincoln Hall
28.10. – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
30.10. – Columbus, OH @ The Basement
31.10. – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Indy
01.11. – Nashville, Tennessee @ High Watt
02.11. – Atlanta, GA @ Purgatory at the Masquerade
03.11. – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
07.11. – Richmond, VA @ The Camel
11/08 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
11/10 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
11/11 – Albany, NY @ Jupiter Hall at Lucky Strike Social
11/12 – Buffalo, NY @ Recreation Room
13.11. – Toronto, ON @ The legendary Horseshoe Tavern
15.11. – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
16.11. – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg