“[ The process ] forced introspection , and writing that described my feelings , and that was something new to me ,” he offers . “ It was a dreadful process , but a really rewarding one .”
Despite the means , the end is , perhaps surprisingly , akin to what fans have come to expect from the oddball pop rock outfit – at least at its sonic surface .
It may seem strange that a band with a string of well-received and increasingly successful albums would choose to reevaluate and reinvent its creative process at such a pivotal career point .
After emerging seemingly out of nowhere with an ear-catching self-titled release in 2005 , the band signed with cred-oozing indie imprint Last Gang Records , re-released that debut offering as Touch Up in 2007 , and followed it up with three subsequent LPs . With each one , praise of the band ’ s unique brand of high-energy , leftof-centre art pop grew increasingly louder and its audience more sizeable .
Leading up to the release of 2014 ’ s Very Good Bad Thing , the band – currently comprised of the siblings Guldemond , keyboardist and vocalist Jasmin Parkin , drummer Ali Siadat , and new bassist Mike Young – moved over to Universal Music Canada and landed a home with Island / Def Jam for the U . S . The album was the band ’ s best-charting to date in their homeland and opened the door to major opportunities in the often elusive major market to the south , including U . S . tours with the likes of Imagine Dragons and Awolnation .
But as Ryan explains , it wasn ’ t so much the creative process that needed to be reworked . More specifically , it was the creator .
“ I found myself a little too preoccupied with those lifestyle choices – choices you often begin making for a variety of reasons ,” he says , alluding to his relatively regular substance use . “ You ’ re unhappy with yourself so you think it ’ s an avenue to find a better version of yourself , or there ’ s a curiosity about the other side and finding a fast-track route to creativity .”
Those examples were personal ones , he admits , though it was only recently that he truly came to grips with the ineffectiveness of his remedies . “ You get to a point where you stop being creative and don ’ t particularly like the version of yourself that you ’ ve become ,” he says before jumping back to the first person . “ I recognized that and put it all aside and moved into this new clean phase of life and creativity , and found myself in the grip of an identity crisis that didn ’ t allow me to write in the ways that I previously had – to be objective or allegorical .”
Understandably , the songs on No Culture probe some fairly dark and dreary crevices of the human experience – or rather , the experiences of this particular human . It ’ s Mother Mother at their most transparent and vulnerable , and yet , somehow , it ’ s also the least cynical offering from a band that ’ s been very successful in exploiting that trait over the years .
The album explores the schismatic current state of global affairs , and more specifically , how byproducts of culture like narcissism and overindulgence can cultivate fear and divisiveness ; however , that ’ s all underpinned by an idea borrowed from a poet that preceded Mother Mother by about two millennia : Virgil ’ s famous “ omnia vincit amor ” – love conquers all .
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