Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks admit that love really is the drug (and vice versa) on their latest single and animated video Suicidal Valentine — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
On the precipice of the pandemic, Toronto singer-songwriter Cardinal was in a toxic relationship with cocaine. Stuck at home with nothing much to do, he wrote Suicidal Valentine while attempting to manage his fraught situation, likening his addiction to a self-destructive romance. “I spent a lot of nights sleeping at the studio and resenting the world,” he explained. “Then COVID happened and offered freedom. The pandemic created an artificial cessation of drug abuse.”
In Suicidal Valentine, Clifford pours out his heart over a strummy guitar and a drum beat that offer a fuzzy sound to match the chaos of his mind at that stage of his life. The artist declares himself his lover’s sacrificial lamb through distorted vocals that display desperation:
“Oh touch me please
Only you can put me on my knees
Take me apart
Hurt me hurt me hurt me from the heart
Make it nice
Romance is fire and truth is ice ice ice
Say you’re mine and I’ll be your suicidal Valentine.”
This song serves as the title track of the band’s newest album, establishing a clear theme for the project, started during the height of lockdowns. “I wrote the songs Suicidal Valentine, Yellowknife and Your Dress at home and started sending the parts to The Sky-Larks,” Cardinal says. “The Sky-Larks were, I guess, pretty bored. But we were getting in the habit of jamming from home, so we started sending tracks to our bandmate and producer Justin McWilliams.”
The Sky-Larks, which also include drummer Patrick Ferrigan, consider themselves to be genre-free, unwilling to let the bounds of one musical lane contain them. Honed by a hilarious and nefarious style, the band produce protest songs, love ballads, and existential raps through an Indigenous lens. Substance abuse, self-loathing, dark themes, and plenty of catchy hooks are rife within their music.
Watch the video for Suicidal Valentine above, listen to more from Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks below, and send them your love at their website.
