Bywater Call give you an earful (and an eyeful) with the playful new animated video for their raucous single Talking Backwards — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Taken from the female-fronted, horn-topped Toronto septet’s self-titled debut album, Talking Backwards walks the line between rock ’n’ roll and R&B while sharing a true-to-life tale straight from the gritty bar scene — a fun, fast-paced anthem for anyone who’s been backed into a corner for a well-intentioned, but poorly executed encounter, where the only way out is a completely unnecessary trip to the washroom.
“The song came into being after a particularly rowdy night playing a small town bar, during which Dave’s entire break time was usurped by a drunk but enthusiastic guitar fan,” recalls singer Meghan Parnell. “The exchange inspired the lyrics for the first verse, set to a driving rock riff Dave had in his back pocket. Together, we collaborated to complete the lyrics, throwing back and forth visual and sensory images of that night and so many like it — we really wanted the listener to feel and smell and taste what we were imagining.
“Once we took Talking Backwards to the full band, the tune started to take on an almost Rolling Stones vibe, with Alan Zemaitis laying down some honky-tonk piano. We felt this captured very well the character of the story. In the studio, we loved the strong vocal push on the bridge and the screaming solo Julian laid down on the sax — these really brought the tune together.”
The video takes the tune to the next level, chronicling the merry misadventures of a decidedly deluded barfly. “Animator Jodi Sandler brought this tune new life in her fun, light-hearted storyboard,” Parnell says. “She has perfectly and beautifully captured the overall vibe of the band and intended playfulness of the tune.”
Bywater Call are a Maple Blues and Independent Blues Awards-nominated septet founded by Barnes and Parnell in 2017. Their sound encompasses traditional blues, southern soul, roots-rock, R&B and more. The band is rounded out by Bruce McCarthy on drums, Mike Meusel on bass, Alan Zemaitis on keys, Stephen Dyte on trumpet and Julian Nalli on tenor sax. Their self-titled debut album, released in November 2019, received rave reviews across Canada, U.S., Europe and Australia. They toured Europe early in 2020 just before pandemic lockdown and are currently putting the finishing touches on their sophomore album, due to be released in early 2022.
Watch Talking Backwards above, Listen to Bywater Call’s debut album below, read my review HERE, and find them at the website, Instagram and Facebook.
