Western Terrestrials are set to release a rock musical feature film, ‘The Ballad of Ethan Alien’, in June 2021. Here is the video premiere of ‘1984’, part of the soundtrack for this ambitious project. The song touches on a whole range of issues afflicting our world right now, from the pandemic through to those who deny the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s a song born out of frustration and anger at a lack of progress and adequate leadership and the mismanagement of these terrible situations. The lines: “This don’t feel like home anymore // It feels more like it’s 1984,” reflect the deep divisions in society and the way so many people have felt alienated and isolated, not just physically.
The group’s lead guitarist and singer, Nick Charyk, says of the song: “‘1984’ is a tune about the intrusion of the surreal, the farcical, and the truly terrifying into everyday existence. Like literary tropes come to life. It’s a topical song that I never thought would feel so on the nose. As I was watching Confederate flags paraded on the Senate floor on live TV, the absurdity and horror of this moment we are in hit me hard. And it hit me that the intended over-the-top imagery in the song we’d just recorded last fall, ‘1984’, was no longer facetious. If 2020 was a year where the surreal has become almost mundane, what better way to document the madness than with a country song, chock full of Wizard of Oz references, set to a groove of 80s gated reverb drums and synthesizers?” Indeed, that rhythmic groove drives the song forward and hooks the listener in. Of course, the title owes something to the chilling book from George Orwell and there are references to The Wizard of Oz and to John Prine amongst the clever lyrics that ultimately speak of the need for acceptance. Such themes follow on from the recent album, ‘Back in the Saddle of a Fever Dream’, of which Jason Pappas (bass) said: “When you look at things from outer space, we’ve all got more in common than some of us humans care to admit.”
These self-styled ‘honky-tonk outsiders’ produce music rooted in classic country but with an engaging freshness, reaching for something new. We’re pleased to premiere the engaging new video for ‘1984’. Check it out.
