Ontario JUNO Award-winning rock trio The Dirty Nil are sharing a deluxe digital edition of their 2023 Free Rein to Passions LP via Dine Alone Records featuring a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

We were asked to play (drummer) Kyle’s brother’s wedding as the house band and readily agreed. There was a list of dream covers and this one we laughed at but then learned. From the first time we did it in the jam space, I knew we had a good one. It was probably the highlight of our wedding set and we decided to record it for posterity. Special shoutout to (bassist) Sam’s amazingly high singing on this one. I find it very difficult to not sing the expletives present in the ‘Old School’ version of the song. – Frontman Luke Bentham

Free Rein to Passions Deluxe keeps things simple lyrically as well, and doesn’t get bogged down with overly complicated messaging. Nothing overwrought, nothing didactic. Just songs about working soul-sucking jobs, shredding on guitar, and striving to be a kinder person. “The only real central theme of the album is an acknowledgment of the crazy circumstances that we all occupy at this point in time, and being nice,” Bentham stresses. “It’s about being nice to everyone around you, and enjoying your silly little life and not getting too smashed down by prevailing negativity in the air.”