Back with an arsenal of new music, Singaporean alt-rock band Chasing Daylight’s fresh single, ‘Deserter’ is out on all major digital streaming platforms. The single is taken off the band’s upcoming EP, which is slated to be out in Q1 2022.
The single, ‘Deserter’ is Chasing Daylight’s story of rising above – from hard training and overcoming obstacles of doubt and fear, to reach a moment of “bankai 卍解” or full release. Blending a distortion of guitars, electronic stabs, string hits, and affirmative lyrics worthy of an anthem, the band borns a refreshing take on the marriage of rock and gospel – two genres rarely tackled by Southeast Asian bands. The song is haunted by the dark theme of war through the mind of a soldier facing his psychological fear while fleeing the battlefield, coming to grips with what it means to fight back. Listeners will resonate with the single’s defiant thunderclap of angst and grit, harnessing to rise up and fight your inner wars.
‘Deserter’ signifies the band’s grueling journey while working on the upcoming EP. With the release of 2 singles which had a completely different sound last year, as compared to their previous discography, Chasing Daylight has made it a mission to go all out in every possible way with this brand new single, as well as the EP.
The band shares,
“The key idea was that we wanted everything to be ‘bigger’, from the production to the gospel-inspired vocals, to the rock guitars, to the psychological heaviness of the lyrics.”
Frontman Wei Chiang adds,
“This is an unapologetic song. The whole punchline of ‘Deserter’ is about the angst and grit you sometimes have to channel to win your fights. You know it’s analogous to competitive sports. Runners call it finding your ‘second wind’, or boxers call it the ‘inner rage’, or anime pop-culture calls it ‘bankai’. Working on this EP and ‘Deserter’ felt like being in the fighting ring for us as a band – aiming to achieve this ‘big sound’ while battling our self-doubt all the way. Somewhere along the road, with the coaching of our incredible producers Dino Ong and Edric Hwang, we discovered an inner strength and angst to just stick it out and say to each other, ‘Let’s finish the damn song!’ Coming out of recording ‘Deserter’ we felt like a different band, so this was transformative for us. We hope it will resonate with anyone who’s fighting their own inner wars too.”
Working with Montreal-based 3D designer Maxime Truchon, the music video for the song features a soldier fighting for his life on the battlefield, deserting and running away from an unseen enemy. The cinematic rendering was inspired by the band’s and Maxime’s mutual love for the Call of Duty video game series and horror war films.
Cover photo: Nicole Guo / Chasing Daylight
