Brisbane, Australia's Semantics have announced their debut LP for SideOneDummy Records titled Paint Me Blue, which was produced by the band and mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Jeff Rosenstock, Deafheaven, Joyce Manor). The record is set for release on May 20, 2022.
The second single from the album, “This Love Could Kill You," and its accompanying music video can be streamed below.
"This Love Could Kill You" is a delicate look at domestic violence and abuse, with the goal to bring awareness to the warning signs we should be looking out for. Alarmingly, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2 in 5 Australians experience domestic violence from age 15 and, despite the confronting subject matter, Semantics believe it's more important than ever to ask: 'are we paying attention?'
Vocalist Callum Robinson explains: “We sadly have multiple friends who have been victims of domestic violence and abuse. The perspective in this song switches between the victim and the friend as we investigate abuse. The goal is to shed light on red flags we wished we had seen as friends of these victims and hopefully bring attention to the disturbing frequency of these relationships. The subject matter is sensitive, and it's really hard to connect artistically as an outsider to these events, but as most people fall in the outsider ratio, it's important to us to bring these signs to the forefront and ask the question, are we paying attention? We hope the song connects from an angle we haven't been exposed to enough ourselves.”
The first single from the album, “Get in the Car," and its accompanying music video can be viewed below.
"Get in the Car" (and Paint Me Blue as a whole) showcases the band's signature style of cathartic, emo-tinged indie punk. Here is what singer/guitarist Callum Robinson had to say about the track:
"Get In The Car is a song about support. It uses some pretty literal lyrics describing events I shared with my partner when she was living remotely during some turbulent times. The punchline of the song “for fucks sake just get in the car” is like a kick in the ass to get out of bed, don’t stay at rock bottom kind of message. "