Canadian Indie Outfit TEN KILLS THE PACK Announces New EP; Listen to New Single + Video “Curbside Panic Attack”
May 20, 2022 BY Jason Currell
Today, Canadian indie outfit Ten Kills the Pack is proud to announce the follow-up to last year’s Life, Death & Afterwards EP with a new project titled Thank You For Trying: ACT I. Ten Kills the Pack couples the announcement with a powerful rumination on mental health in the form of new song “Curbside Panic Attack.” Frontman and songwriter Sean Sroka meditates on the intense lows that come with anxiety and describes the “dream-like scenes” of a depressive episode. Co-produced with Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National, Arcade Fire), contemplative melodies glide over raw guitars and build to a blasting instrumental break that features a burst of trumpets and a rollicking backbeat. Listen to “Curbside Panic Attack” on all digital retailers (here).
Sroka reflects on the meaning behind the song: “The lyrics (originally in a more freeform poetry format) try to walk and flip you through the internal thoughts and the immediate external motions happening around a person in the middle of a situation like a panic attack or bout of depression. By the time we arrive at the bridge of the song, the lyrical moments of reflection of this characters’ previous selves leave it to the reader or listener to decide if this is a flash of life before their eyes or if it’s a reflection of moments what grounds them and keeps them going.”
The accompanying music video was conceived by Director Luke Nairn and Sroka. We follow a day in the life of a boy in Mexico, played by Edgar Magaño. The flashing images and slice-of-life filmmaking matches perfectly with the cinematic storytelling of the song.
“Because the lyrics of the song can naturally be quite visual, when working with friend and collaborator Luke Nairn, we decided to think more about the feelings and the abstract visuals that the music gave us,” explains Sroka. “A way to shape a new type of creative moment for it to ‘be’ and a new looser narrative for it to accompany.”
“Curbside Panic Attack” joins “Honestly, Fuck You,” a brutally honest ode to touring musicians and the mental conflicts that arise from a life on the road, and will appear on the new EP Thank You For Trying: ACT I out September 16th via Nettwerk.
Watch & Share “Curbside Panic Attack” Here:
Sean Sroka, the Toronto-based songwriter behind the contemporary folk project Ten Kills The Pack, has made his mark in recent years by blending together literate, poetic observances and incisive musings on the human condition with cunningly composed and hard-hitting songcraft and instrumentation. His acclaimed 2019 debut release, Force Majeure, introduced his talents through the lens of a defined Toronto cityscape and its cosmopolitan hustle, bustle, beauty, and heartache.
In 2021 Ten Kills the Pack shared the five-song EP Life, Death, & Afterwards. Sroka expanded his scope to focus on even bigger targets—a search for interpersonal purpose, and the clarity that comes from space and growth—while losing none of the intimacy nor observant expressiveness for which Ten Kills The Pack has become known. Produced by Dave Cerminara (Father John Misty, Cold War Kids, Dawes), Life, Death, & Afterwards realizes the potential of his debut to deliver on all promised levels. By expertly weaving together profoundly universal themes to which all listeners can relate with razor sharp songwriting plus lush and layered organic sounds, Sroka has established Ten Kills The Pack as one of modern folk music’s leading voices.
TEN KILLS THE PACK IN THE PRESS…
“…poignant, heartfelt, nostalgic, and relatable to all as the artist puts sparse, but vivid words to a familiar struggle for satisfaction, happiness, and contentment…”-Atwood Magazine
“Sroka has established Ten Kills the Pack as a leading voice in modern folk music.”-Exclaim!
“…exquisite… beautifully crafted…”-Indie88
