Broken Wolves make a dark, desperate plea for existential freedom with their medieval and metaphorical single The Summons — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Every generation has had to deal with their share of looming threats, and lead singer and guitarist Lennox Campbell-Berzins of the Toronto dark-folk act is no different — he grapples with the looming threat of climate change and channels his anxieties onto their brooding new single.
Led by Campbell-Berzins’s affecting, Nick Cave-like baritone, The Summons sets a gloomy, meditative tone with ethereal backing harmonies, atmospheric synth, and grimly marching percussion. Meanwhile, the lyrics evoke images of nocturnal unrest and chilly forestal settings that are equal parts unforgiving and beautiful.
“We chased it down to the viaduct
The portal to our dreams
Where all the hidden truths that we seek
Are splayed in winding streams
Lay my bones in bondage there
Beneath the naked moon
Set me free my sweetness
And I will join you soon.”
On the chorus, The Summons blossoms into a rich, thudding cacophony of sound, helped along by the vocals of Aniqa Qadir and guitarist Alex Gage, bassist James Atin-Godden and drummer Matthew Wallace. Despite its grandiose delivery, The Summons is utterly haunting in its solemnity.
The song is the closing title track Broken Wolves’ debut album, which Campbell-Berzins first dreamed up in 2016 and recorded in 2019 at Taurus Recording with Jesse Turnbull, Rogers Communication Center Multitrack Studio with Joseph Shemoun, Jordan Paluck and Thomas Rapaport, and Blanket Fort Studios with James Atin-Godden.
“I was writing a lot of darker folk tunes with a hint of medievalism to it, most of which were inspired by my fears and anxieties around climate change,” he says. “This topic, while maybe subtle or unrecognizable within the music, was one of the major foundations when starting the project. I wanted to talk about an issue that was universal, contemporary and in a lot of ways generational, and one that I thought, wasn’t being addressed by many peers.”
Broken Wolves blend baroque tones, alternative and progressive rock with added dashes of medieval and folkloric flair. Initially featuring previous members of Ruby Cikada (2012-2017), Broken Wolves release the EP Live at Taurus in 2020, followed by The Summons LP in October 2022. Through a gothic-folk lens, The Summons acts as a vehicle for Broken Wolves to examine the folkloric struggle of humanity vs. nature in the context of modern issues around environmentalism and climate change.
Check out The Summons single above, listen to (and buy) the rest of the album below, and join the Broken Wolves pack at their Facebook and Instagram.
