Indie Outfit Ten Kills The Pack Releases Full-Length Concept Album ‘Thank You For Trying’

Today, Canadian indie outfit Ten Kills the Pack releases Thank You For Trying, a concept album that tells the story of ‘the artist’s journey’ in two acts. Frontman Sean Sroka holds up a magnifying glass to the very idea of what it means to be an artist, with stories that mimic his own journey and experiences. It’s a bold new expression from a poetic and nuanced artist that pushes the boundaries of what a singer-songwriter is or can be. Listen to Thank You For Trying out now on all digital retailers (here).

Sroka explains, “It is an album about the ‘artist’s journey’, but the “Thank You for Trying” defintiely stands as its own statement for both artists and the appreciators.

Overall, this was such an art first process. Aside from the real poetic focuses of the songs or narrative labours, just sonically, it feels so fresh, alive, and organic. And I think that’s because of the balance we created between heavy analog studio captures mixed with small room but really honest home recordings. We knew what we were aiming for, but always always made space for live chaos in the production and musical performances, which I think really helps.

The album also incorporates all the subtle technical elements I love of almost secret time changes or flowing modulations, gritty textured field recordings, and skits of ‘produced life’ that help create the albums unique shape.

Here’s a piece from one of the interludes; ‘It’s a narrative that’s so close to the bone for anyone who has ever had a wish that the universe hasn’t granted yet. Anybody who’s wanted to be something different, something more, who’s aspired to be an artist, who’s aspired to be loved, who’s aspired to feel normal, or who’s aspired to be understood.’ I feel like that resonates for me.”

To celebrate the release, Ten Kills the Pack announces the ‘Thank You For Trying Toronto Tour, a series of shows in “secret spaces, and small places” across Toronto’s various neighborhoods. Find the full list of dates below and for ticketing information visit https://tenkillsthepack.com/tour-dates/.

Listen & Share “Critics (Fifty Bucks)” Here:

ABOUT TEN KILLS THE PACK:

Canadian Sean Sroka is the kind of self-deprecating singer-songwriter that pens his fears in a way that blends a punk rock ethos with the calm and kindness of folk. The frontman for indie outfit Ten Kills the Pack has become known for his confessional-style lyricism that explores the rough edges of the human condition. Sroka approaches his life as a musician with a raw passion and sincere attitude that stems from his DIY days cutting his teeth in the music scene of his hometown Toronto or playing in his sludgy punk band around the city. His independence guided the 2019 full-length Force Majeure that zeroed in on the hustle and bustle of city life, a solitary, self-described “guy with guitar” effort recorded in apartments across Toronto. While follow-up Life, Death & Afterwards (2021), expanded his scope to focus on the cerebral and philosophical.

Now, with a more direct and unvarnished backdrop, Sroka scales the next level, developing a pack of homegrown demos into a symphonic whole colored by resonant harmonies, moonstruck keys, and gritty energy that juxtaposes the pretty and intricate details. Ten Kills the Pack unveils the new album Thank You For Trying.

“Segmented into two “acts,” Ten Kills the Pack presents a twelve-song narrative that unpacks the “artist’s journey,” illustrating a message of hope while refusing to shy away from all the bumps and bruises felt along the way. Sroka inhabits a narrator who tells stories that loosely mimic his own experiences. It’s a tactic that calls to mind some of the greatest songwriters like Bob Dylan or Lou Reed, whose mystical musings often blur the lines between fact and fiction. It’s these blurred edges that allow the songs to be so uncomfortably honest, devoted to loneliness, desire, futility, failure, and every bit of hope in between. Thank You For Trying was produced by Sean Sroka alongside Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, Julia Jacklin, The National), who helped bring this vision to life.

Ten Kills the Pack Thank You For Trying Toronto Tour Dates: