On their erstwhile single ‘New Burn Order’, Drown This City made it crystal clear that they were approaching their new era with a ferocity that we rarely see occurring in nature. Today, that flame burns with even more intensity on the band’s next single, ‘Borderline Existence’, which coincides with the announcement of their upcoming EP, Colours We Won’t Know.
Lulling you in with hypnotic riffage, ‘Borderline Existence’ quickly closes around you, denying both light and air as the beatdown begins. The ground-shaking gutturals of Toby Thomas contrast strikingly with the ethereal cleans of Alex Reade, dappled throughout the track’s bridge and chorus. There’s a cyclonic urgency to the musicality of ‘Borderline Existence’, and it stares us off right in the eye.
The story behind the track is a continuation of the harrowing and deeply personal narrative at the heart of Colours We Don’t Know, this time placing focus on the idea of disassociation or depersonalisation; basically, when our own brain starts working against us, leaving us few, if any, outlets for that agitation and anger. While the song tells the specific story of a protagonist experiencing such things isolated in a mental asylum, there is a literal, more personal hardline to the narrative.
“I’ve found myself wearing thin because of this, wondering what I was fighting against and how long could I keep going for”, says Reade of the song’s inception. “This song reflects the battle I feel to succeed against all odds, fuelled by sheer terror that my life will be for nothing,” she adds.
“The line ‘I really thought that I’d amount to something, I should have known you’d get me in the end’ really reflects the exhaustion I feel wondering if I can keep going with this fight to be heard and understood. I’m exhausted, always pushing against, trying to win, trying to get ‘there’ and I just don’t know where that is anymore.”
The Colours We Won’t Know EP will be available to the masses as soon as Friday, 28th May via UNFD.
