Earlier this month, indie singer-songwriter Rocky Votolato's new band Suzzallo announced their debut full-length The Quiet Year. The Seattle trio shared "River," and today they're back with "Tsunami Waves" with contributions from Ben Gibbard.
Votolato was inspired to form Suzzallo after the tragic death of his child in a car accident. "Tsunami Waves" grapples with the unfathomably dizzying aftermath, about which Votolato explains:
Deep grief can feel like literally being knocked off your feet by huge waves that come out of nowhere when you least expect it. Every other memory you have puts you underwater. I think that’s why I was drawn to this imagery and I thought tsunami waves were the perfect metaphor and concept to describe what I was going through. I needed art and songwriting more than I ever have before making this record, and I’m so grateful I had distorted guitar sounds to channel all this loss into. This song is about finding your resilience even as the waves keep coming at you. Couldn’t be happier with how the song turned out and it was such a joy and honor to get a chance to work with Ben Gibbard on it as well. I love everything he added to it, especially his backups and the bass 6 he played in the post-chorus, which I think created one of the prettiest moments on the album.
Along with Votolato, Suzzallo has bassist Steve Bonnell (Schoolyard Heroes) and drummer Rudy Gajadhar (Waxwing). The Quiet Year was produced by John Goodmanson (Unwound, Sleater-Kinney). Hear "Tsunami Waves" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "River"
02 "The Destroyer"
03 "Constellations"
04 "Tsunami Waves"
05 "Star String Radio"
06 "We Are The Clouds"
07 "Time Machine"
08 "Magical Thinking"
09 "Shattered Stars"
10 "Broken Dragon Wings"
11 "Eulogy"
The Quiet Year is self-released on 5/2. Pre-order it here.
