In 2020, the world stopped but Basement Revolver never really did: songs were written and recorded, a band member left, and another came to replace them. But, they couldn’t tour or rehearse or record in the usual way. The gap between making work, and being alone, resulted in serious introspection for the band. The songs they wrote were full of the tension in a world that is shut down, but which expects productivity. This resulted in a deeper understanding of what kind of message the band wanted to present, and which stories they wanted to tell. The result was 2022’s Embody — and now its counterpart, Embody Live (out June 9, 2023 on Sonic Unyon).

“Tired,” the first single to be shared ahead of Embody Live’s release, is about co-lead Chrisy Hurn’s existential fatigue and significant life changes – leaving the church and religion they grew up in, the community and family that came with it and their understanding of who they’re supposed to be. 

The day that we recorded this in the studio, happened to be the day that I came out. It was an incredibly charged moment in time for me. Pretty sure I wept while we were recording ghost vocals. My coming out coincided with an article in the CBC about the Christian university I attended and how it was and continues to be a dangerous place for queer people. This past year, a non-binary student named Beckett Noble attending Redeemer and attempting to reform Redeemer’s 2SLGBTQIA+ “stance” ended their own life. Beckett’s death could have been avoided, had the institution listened to what their queer alumni had been saying for years: spaces that are hostile to queer folks are spaces that kill. – Chrisy Hurn