Hamilton, Ontario’s The Dirty Nil unveil their fifth album, The Lash, via Dine Alone Records. Ultimately, The Lash sounds exactly like what the title implies – a cold, hard crack of the whip by the Canadian rock band, one that snaps them with a much needed reset after nearly 20 years of exploring the light.

Following the hardcore-laced heat of “Fail in Time” and the snarling honesty of “Rock N’ Roll Band,” the record’s focus track, “This Is Me Warning Ya,” showcases a strikingly different side of the band — cinematic, spacious, and surprisingly romantic. “This is Me Warning Ya” trades distortion for orchestration, bringing in violin and cello to build a darkly elegant backdrop for Luke Bentham’s crooning vocals.

The track taps into the raw emotionality that defines The Lash, while highlighting the album’s most intimate, string-laden moment.

I was definitely on a Frank Sinatra listening kick. I wrote it really quickly and was happy with it. There were no revisions or alterations from the first draft. When we recorded it, our friend Sara Danae came in to play violin on what I had laid down, it really made it sound lush. We asked if she could also play some cello as well. Despite never playing one before, she bowed out a simple but beautiful passage and I was over the moon with the final result.

– Luke Bentham on “This is Me Warning Ya.”