Local Natives Reveal Origins of New Song “Paradise”: Exclusive
The post Local Natives Reveal Origins of New Song “Paradise”: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.
Origins is a recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, Local Natives dig into their emotional new track, “Paradise.”
It was 2021, live music had just returned, and Local Natives were set to take the stage at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater. As this writer can attest, the show was brilliant — but little did we know there was some serious anguish bubbling up in the band, and that 2021 show was almost their last.
Thankfully, Local Natives found their way together, and are now gearing up for the release of Time Will Wait for No One, their fifth studio album and their first since 2019’s Violet Street. A little over a week before the album’s release on July 7th comes “Paradise,” the most recent slice of Time Will Wait for No One after this year’s “Just Before The Morning” and “NYE.”
“Paradise,” which is led by co-lead vocalist Kelcey Ayer, is one of those Local Natives tracks with an unavoidable heartbeat. Throughout the pandemic and recording of Time Will Wait for No One, Ayer and his wife experienced multiple miscarriages and found themselves grappling with loss and ensuing depression. On “Paradise,” he circles around these harsh truths, wondering how the world continues to turn amidst the chaos and likening it to “paradise on fire.”
The song is initially resigned to be a moving, somber turn, but around the two-and-a-half minute mark, the band arrives in full force, backing Ayer as if to say, “Paradise is on fire, but we’re here, and it’s okay.” The final words uttered by Ayer are that of a hopeful promise: “I know our day will come/ I know our day will come.” As the closing track on Time Will Wait for No One, it’s a comforting place to end on — even if the darkest clouds above you feel inescapable, the winding road to paradise will reveal itself in time.
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Listen to Local Natives’ “Paradise” below, and read on for Kelcey Ayer’s breakdown of the song’s Origins.
Pre-orders for Time Will Wait for No One are ongoing. In support of the album, Local Natives are headed out on a US tour; tickets are available here.
Wildfires:
Malibu in November 2018, photo by Justin Snyder via Unsplash
In 2018, California experienced the most devastating fire in its history with the Camp Fire (named after Camp Creek Road, the place where it had originated from) as a result of faulty power lines. It burned down the towns of Paradise and Concow, killing 85 people, and eventually resulted in over $16 billion in damages. At the same time, Zuma Beach in Malibu was filled with horses and other animals seeking refuge from the Woolsey Fire. These events would be from where the song originated: feeling so helpless while these fires tore through countless beautiful, innocent towns and homes, thinking of all the lives lost or forever changed.
Pregnancy Loss:
Photo by Katie Marble
In 2020 and 2021, my wife and I experienced two losses while trying to start a family, the first at seven weeks and the second at 17 weeks. The former we learned was a 20-30% statistical probability many go through, but few talk about, which was challenging enough to process. Then came the latter loss, which was called an anomaly happening to 1-3% of pregnancies, which absolutely devastated us. Local Natives usually work on songs for years, allowing them time to evolve. So whereas “Paradise” started as a song about fires next door, over time, it became about the devastating fires happening in our own home.
Gun Violence:
Photo by Eli Solitas via Unsplash
Shortly before the Camp Fire, a clinical psychologist named Jennifer Gonzalez, along with two other employees, were shot and killed in a standoff at a veterans home in northern California. Normally, I’d be numb to the hearing of yet another shooting, but the news came to me through my wife who’d been in the same high school graduating class as Jennifer, along with learning some of our closest friends were very close with her at one point in their lives. I felt deeply heartbroken for her family and the people who loved her, but also was struck by how it felt to be only two degrees of separation away from another victim of gun violence.
It’s been incredibly challenging to remain vigilant in my shock and outrage from these daily shootings, but to hear of it happening to someone so close threw cold water on my emotional stagnation. Jennifer is only referenced in one line in the song, but was an important moment for me in the midst of it all. (Out of respect, I’d like to name the other two employees who were killed: Jennifer Golick and Christine Loeber. If you’d like to donate or stay vigilant in the fight for stricter gun control, visit Moms Demand Action.)
Jaws of Love.:
Photo by Will Oliver
On a lighter note, I have a solo project called Jaws of Love. that I’ve loved doing since it started in 2017. But, as one of the three primary songwriters for Local Natives, it can be a tightrope to walk at times in choosing which songs I write go to which project. Usually they seem to sort themselves out into two categories: one for songs that are more malleable to a larger group and lean more traditional in structure (LN), and the other for deeper personal statements that skew more downtempo, esoteric, and unique in structure (JOL).
I’d started “Paradise” as a JOL song, and while the content felt extremely personal, there were big sweeping melodies and epic-ness that LN can be great at doing, so I felt unsure about which path to take. It was Ryan [Hahn] who I’d shown the song to early on in the pandemic and pleaded with me to have Local Natives try their hand at it, and I’m forever grateful to him for that. It’s always a longer, curvier road to make a LN song, but when it turns out well, there’s no better feeling.
Local Natives Reveal Origins of New Song “Paradise”: Exclusive
Paolo Ragusa
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