A new single from Arctic Wave comes through with a very intense and extremely theatrical approach that has a wonderful way of creating an atmosphere you fall right into, takes you away from whatever you're doing, and puts you into this love story. As it happens and the song unfolds, you pick up on all the different emotional backdrops that likely birthed the idea for this song in the first place.
"Permanently" is an absolutely gorgeous track with layer upon layer of these textures that all come together and do indeed create a cinematic, full-bodied, and theatrical tonality and one of the best ways to soak this in is by watching the music video that comes along with the track.
The reason for this is that the music video gives an even better portrayal of the intensities, sways, and waves of emotional drive that come with the song as it plays through.
The song has a gorgeous string and piano introduction and, at times, goes from angelic to haunting. This gives you a bit of a preview of the full song, but even more so, it sets the tone for what you can expect next.
You get such a lush soundscape with this track and the sentiment is actually quite beautiful, even though it goes through tumbles and relays of inner thought that come out with no boundaries.
This is one of my favorite aspects of the song actually. The sheer fact that this song itself, the way it was constructed, composed, and arranged, is not your standard cookie-cutter style whatsoever.
The track has class. It's graceful and it's intense, it tells a story from a personal perspective and delivers that with a unique form of honesty and heart that has a strange way of sticking with you for a long time after the song is ended.
The music video is beyond outstanding. The cinematography, the angles, the shots, the actors, everything about this music video pushes the boundaries of the concept that the song holds and this is something that is a rarity because you don't always get music videos that live up to the song let alone a video that pushes the song even further and the concept even deeper.
Again, I can't express enough how theatrical this track actually feels and how that gives the song this underbelly that drives everything further so, all in all, this song has many ways that it pushes the envelope and the creative bounds are endless here.
You can tell there was a lot of attention to detail in the creation and recording of this track but there was also a lot of attention to detail in the music video, and I feel like those two elements balance each other out so insanely well that you should watch the music video the first time you even listen to the track.
It's a beautiful song with contemporary, classical, pop, rock and so much more embedded in its veins.
Yes, the song hits a rock backbone for sure, with heavier guitars that give the song meat and an edge because that's what certain parts of the song call for.
This is a song again, that has several emotional waves that push through and so for each emotion, that intensity level is driven by different instruments along with how the vocals are performed of course.
One of those instruments is an electric guitar that performs a rock sound and texture.
This gives certain elements of the song that added edginess, and drive that it needs for the big moments whether they are positive or not.
The sentiment behind this track is beautiful of course, and you'll pick up on it when you listen to it. I'm not going to give everything away although I might have already.
Either way, this was a gorgeous song with so much going on that you can soak in, and with its release we wanted to sit-down with Arctic Wave founder and songwriter C.L. Turner to find out what drove this song and what may be next for the band.
Here's what happened.
Buzz Slayers: Hello! and thanks for taking some time! First off, "Permanently" was a beautiful piece of work! It felt very genuine and honest but also warm! Where did this track come from?
An amalgamation of prior relationships. Same concept as an old Cheap Trick song, “The Flame,” which has a great line … “You were the first to be the last.” The song begins, as relationship often do, with much promise and excitement and, over time, many fizzle. In this case, the man and the woman both agree to part, albeit amiably.
Buzz Slayers: The music video was done so well! Was that your concept and did it turn out how you expected?
Thank you so much for the kind words. We made 7 videos in support of album 1 and are finishing another ~half dozen in support of album 2. Music already provides 3 communication approaches – melody, lyrics and syncopation, and videos add a great visual component. “Permanently” it was shot in upstate NY by Michael and Benjamin at Incline Productions in NYC. They do great work. I had a cameo in the video, playing the piano. What you don’t see is a 15-20 people milling about, and some cameramen hanging from the rafters.
Buzz Slayers: Are you touring or playing live right now?
We were just in studio, famous East-West Studio in LA (think Beach Boys, Whitney Houston, Ariana Grande, Tom Petty, Frank Sinatra … and my personal fave, Ziggy Marley) recording album 3. We’ll spend the rest of the year finalizing these songs, which are – by far – the most commercially resonant that we have recorded. My daughter, Collette (who can really sing), showed for most of the sessions, which was a full circle moment because her first concert was Ziggy Marley with me and her favorite musician is Ariana Grande.
Buzz Slayers: Do you record your stuff in a big studio or is it a home set up?
All of the above. Songs start in my head, and are written and recorded, in very elemental fashion, in my home. Then the producer/guitarist and singer and I work out the songs more thoroughly and record pretty strong demos at the singer’s home studio. Afterward, we get the full band together for 4-5 days in a big studio. We recorded the first two albums in NYC, but were very pleased to record album 3 at East-West, where we bumped into Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains and some others I’m not allowed to mention. We recorded in studio 2 (of 3), which is, perhaps, the most famous of the group. The sound quality in that room is unbelievable, which was painstakingly architected. No detail was spared. I had to pinch myself; I started as a reggae keyboardist (Marley!) and later found myself recording at the same spot where Ziggy recorded. Beyond thrilling.
Buzz Slayers: Tell us a bit about how this all started for you musically and as an artist?
Short version is that I’m a self-taught keyboardist – good ear and decent player. Played in bands and church growing up. Never wrote a song until I hit 40, and the spin cycle hit me – mom died, two twin friends committed suicide, lost a job, terrible custody fight. My daughter, then 4, drew two box houses with a man (me) in front of one and a woman (her mother) in front of the other and a girl (her) in the center, being tugged in both directions. The song wrote itself … “I saw what you drew, it’s your reality. Two parents, two houses, two families. So I got on my knees, and I said a prayer. Said ‘Help me God,” let me get it right from here. Cause you’re the most important thing in the world.” This song, “Two Houses,” (and vid) will be released soon. I then went on a songwriting frenzy. Strange thing is, when my life stabilized, the songwriting font never lessened. Fast forward to 3 years ago, and I wanted to professionally record 12-13 songs, which became album 1. I first connected with Grammy-winning Will Hensley, who brought a plug-and-play group of world-class musicians from CSN, Diane Birch, The Click Five, etc. The end product was great, and we had a blast. Arctic Wave was born. We’ll release album 2 in 1H25 and begin releasing album 3 in 2H25. Demos for album 4 are stacking up. More to come!
Buzz Slayers: I am certainly hearing some heavier alt rock, grunge, garage-rock and more in this track Who are your biggest influences musically?
You wouldn’t guess my influences from this song, but “Permanently” has some latent frustration that is reflected in the music, hence the rocking approach. I’ve mainly been influenced by reggae/funk/R&B/soul – Stevie, Prince, EWF, Marley. Rock influences include U2, Linkin Park and Coldplay.
Buzz Slayers: Now that this video and single are released, what's the next move for you?
We will accelerate the pace of releases, releasing the remainder of album 1 this year and releasing album 2 in 1H25.
Buzz Slayers: Who is in your headphones right now?
Post Malone has been in my head for 5 years. I can’t get over the versality – 3-5 smashes each in pop, rock, rap and now country. It doesn’t hurt that he is a fellow Dallasite. Who could get Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne in the same tune? Only Posty. Every Arctic Wave album has a tribute song to a musician – album 2 has “Nesta” (Nesta Robert Marley) and album 3 has “Be Like That” (Posty).
Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music?
I’m genuinely humbled, and delighted, that the music has some traction. I write about “real life” – love, loss, addiction, angst, frustration, i.e., issues with confront everybody. If you marry a resonating message with interesting sonics, then “mission accomplished.”
And thank you, Buzzslayers, for the opportunity to discuss Artic Wave. Catch you on the backbeat.
Comments