Canadian Progressive Metal outfit Spiritbox has once again displayed their phenomenal songwriting ingenuity with powerfully emotional new track “Constance”(out now via Rise Records). The release is inspired both lyrically and visually by devastating loss. Both Spiritbox frontwoman Courtney LaPlante and the video’s director Dylan Hryciuk suffered the passing of their beloved grandmothers this year. With “Constance,” they came together to pour their sorrow into creating something beautiful, raw, and deeply personal. The track is a tribute to both Courtney’s grandmother, Phyllis, and Dylan’s grandmother, Constance, whom the song is named after.
Sonically, the track blends Courtney’s sublime vocals with a majestically progressive musical landscape, exhibiting yet another facet of the band’s impressively varied songbook and further showcases why Spiritbox has become one of the hottest, fast-rising bands in heavy music.
Speaking about the new track and the deeply personal and devastatingly sad inspiration behind both the lyrics and the music video for “Constance,” Courtney LaPlante, frontwoman of Spiritbox says:
“When ‘Holy Roller’ took off, we knew that we wanted to use the follow-up single as a statement to show that we are not just going to put out the same thing over and over. We wrote the music for this song at the same time as ‘Blessed Be’ and ‘Rule Of Nines,’ but I hadn’t ever committed to lyrics.
“I came to our director Dylan with a proposition: Let’s create the music video and the lyrical content of the song at the same time. We both felt compelled for the song and story to reflect the sorrow we both feel about our grandmothers passing away recently.
“Due to border shut downs, I was not able to say goodbye to my grandmother Phyllis, to whom the song is in tribute, or attend her funeral. I always promised her that I would sing at her memorial service, because she always requested a ‘pretty song with none of that scary screaming.’ I hoped writing this song with no ‘scary screaming’ in it would help me find a sense of closure.
“Dylan wrote his video concept to honour his grandmother, Constance, to whom the video is in tribute. Our music videos usually have a horror element to them, and we wanted to explore a different side of horror: the horror of feeling like your mind is betraying you, due to a long battle with dementia. With Dylan’s permission, we named the song ‘Constance’ to immortalize her story.”
