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SOM
Pays Tribute to Depeche Mode
with FAITH EP
Out May 26, 2023
First single “Enjoy the Silence”
Premieres Today on Brooklyn Vegan
SOM “Enjoy The Silence”
Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/Rx1MNyEVzW4
(194) SOM x Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence (Official Video) – YouTube
APRIL 25, 2023 – “I was frustrated. We didn’t want to write more, we wanted to go out and play the songs we had just worked on for two years. In hindsight, I was just looking for inspiration in something familiar,” tells Will Benoit, vocalist and songwriter for heavy doom pop band SOM. This creative hurdle Benoit had to leap over resulted in their upcoming Depeche Mode covers EP, FAITH (release date: May 26, 2023 via Sonic Ritual). The first single “Enjoy the Silence” is a gauzy, feedback-drenched re-invention of the 1990 single that reached #1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. Its video premieres today via Brooklyn Vegan.
“‘Enjoy The Silence’ is one of my all-time favorite songs and it embodies everything that makes Depeche Mode great,” Benoit continues. “As soon as the drums kick in you get this iconic, earworm guitar line, then the song drops down into a sort of weird, off kilter verse melody which explodes into a stadium-sized, emotional chorus.” Adapting Depeche Mode’s dark alternative style into SOM’s trademark heavy shoegaze, the band created a version that remains faithful to the original’s structure and tone, while embedding its own guitar-bathed textures deep within its essence. “It was daunting to take this song on because it really does have a life of its own outside of Depeche Mode. So we worked pretty hard to find a delicate balance of homage, but we also really wanted to ‘own it’ and infuse as much weight and density as possible. Working on the arrangement felt like a lesson in how to write a great song, and it was a special feeling to get to really live inside of this piece of music for a while.”
With the release of their acclaimed 2022 album The Shape of Everything, which Kerrang said was “likely to tickle the fancy of both shoegaze aficionados and post-rock fans alike,” noting that, “the guitars drip like syrup into swirling, ethereal soundscapes to create something which sounds and feels momentous,” SOM’s EU tour with Katatonia and Sólstafir was postponed, leaving the band with time on their hands while they waited for the pandemic to wane. It was during this time that Benoit revisited his favorite tracks and recorded them as rough demos. “As soon as I heard them, I realized we can totally bring something distinct to each song and make them feel like ‘SOM’ in a unique way,” recalls guitarist Mike Repasch-Nieves. Reworking the instrumentation, drummer Duncan Rich and bassist Justin Forrest built a pulsing wall of rhythm, powerfully underpinning the swirling, delay-soaked guitar textures of Repasch-Nieves and inventive riffage of Joel Reynolds to create what might be the group’s most definitive take on “Doom Pop” yet.
SOM (hi-res)
L to R: Justin Forrest (bass), Will Benoit (voice, guitar), Duncan Rich (drums), Mike Repasch-Nieves (guitar), Joel Munguia Reynolds (guitar)
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| The Faith EP finds SOM diving into their esteemed band’s catalog and paying tribute to four of their favorites: “Enjoy the Silence,” “Personal Jesus,” “Policy of Truth” (from 1990’s Violator), and “Never Let Me Down Again” (from 1987’s Music For The Masses). With Depeche Mode’s cultural zeitgeist having a rebirth with their current tour supporting a new album as well as a reawakening of the impact of their songs (the HBO hit series The Last of Us prominently featured “Never Let Me Down Again”), the timing of their EP felt like kismet. “I didn’t realize how much of an influence Depeche Mode have had across like three or four generations of music listeners, so it’s exciting to feel like the tone and even the content of these songs still resonates so strongly with people,” adds Benoit.
Releasing their debut The Fall in 2018, SOM (comprised of current and former members of Constants, Junius, and recent GRAMMY® nominees Caspian) rode a wave of broad media acclaim including REVOLVER (“not far flung from the output of high-volume shoegazers such as Deftones or Hum. Glimmering melancholy”) to Metal Injection (“Your speakers need to be destroyed and your ears infested with every earworm imaginable right this second!… This band can do no wrong”) to New Noise (“SOM have delivered a doom pop masterpiece. Like putting on a big ol’ sonic Snuggie”). Over the course of two albums and an EP, SOM has made their mark indelible. With a third album being worked on and the Faith EP on the way, SOM are primed and ready.
SOM is Will Benoit (voice, guitar), Justin Forrest (bass), Joel Munguia Reynolds (guitar), Mike Repasch-Nieves (guitar), and Duncan Rich (drums). Faith will be released on May 26, 2023 on Sonic Ritual and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved at https://ffm.to/poldvb1. |
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