Ten Kills The Pack Releases New EP ‘Life, Death & Afterwards’
February 27, 2021 BY Nettwerk
Today, Toronto-based contemporary folk artist Ten Kills The Pack (aka Sean Sroka) releases his new EP, Life, Death, & Afterwards. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Dave Cerminara (Father John Misty, Weyes Blood, Cold War Kids) and mastered by Greg Calbi (The National, Taylor Swift, Bon Iver), Life, Death, & Afterwards is a document of a unique time in Sroka’s life that showcases a pinnacle of his musical powers. 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.
LISTEN TO LIFE, DEATH, & AFTERWARDS HERE
Ten Kills The Pack 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, which was named one of Indie88’s Best Overlooked Albums of 2020, introduced his talents through the lens of a defined Toronto cityscape and its cosmopolitan hustle, bustle, beauty, and heartache.
Now, with Life, Death, & Afterwards, Sroka has expanded his scope to focus on even bigger targets—a search for interpersonal purpose, and the clarity that comes from space and growth. He tackles the heaviest sides of his subjects and pulls lightly from their darker details. Themes here include the journey of a relationship and its ending, new friendships, familial relations, depression and mental health, and the struggle to learn from past mistakes. During recording, Sroka and Cerminara focused on Ten Kills The Pack’s tendency toward organic tones and the combination of violin, trumpet, and baritone sax Sroka had been favoring during his live shows to complement his guitar and occasional piano. They also made an effort to fill the spectrum of his songs texturally to give the music a deservedly bigger sonic impact. He does all this while losing none of the intimacy nor observant expressiveness for which Ten Kills The Pack has become known.
