Paradise
White Lung’s dizzyingly breakneck *Paradise* finds them more fiery than ever, with catchy punk hooks alongside deliriously shred-heavy guitar attacks. Mish Barber-Way’s ferocious vocals steal the show on songs like the dark, metal-tinged “Demented.” Guitarist Kenneth William’s ridiculously quick-fingered six-string heroics burn hotter than a scorpion pepper on furious opener “Dead Weight.” The heavy-hitting four-piece save their raucous best for last with the title track—a thick ‘n’ thrashy rampage about the joys of grabbing your lover and leaving it all behind.
After the critically acclaimed release Deep Fantasy (2014), White Lung return with their fourth album Paradise. Vocalist Mish Barber-Way, guitarist Kenneth William and drummer Anne-Marie Vassiliou, reconnected in Los Angeles to work with engineer and producer Lars Stalfors (HEALTH, Cold War Kids, Alice Glass). In October of 2015, White Lung spent a month in the studio, working closely with Stalfors to challenge what could be done with their songs. “I wanted it to sound new. I wanted a record that sounded like it was made in 2016”, says William of his mindset. Bringing all the energy, unique guitar work and lyrical prowess Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME have praised them for in the past few years, White Lung curated their songs with a new pop sensibility. Mixed by Stalfors and later mastered by Joe LaPorta, Paradise is their smartest, brightest songwriting yet. “There’s this stupid attitude that only punks have where it’s uncool to become a better song writer,” says Barber-Way, “In no other musical genre are your fans going to drop you when you start progressing. That would be like parents being disappointed in their child for graduating from kindergarten to the first grade. Paradise is the best song writing we have ever done, and I expect the next record to be the same. I have no interest in staying in kindergarten.”
White Lung's newest is more outspoken, more anthemic than 2014's Deep Fantasy, and frontwoman Mish Barber-Way offers provocative challenges to the idea of what it means to be a Good Feminist.
Over its three previous full-lengths—a pair for top-notch hardcore-punk label Deranged Records and 2014’s how-do-you-do Domino upgrade Deep Fantasy—Vancouver’s White Lung has stayed true to one of the most elemental traits of punk: Keep the rhythms relentless, like a boxer working a speed bag. While steady-and-true…
Canadian punk band excel on fourth album that sees the group expanding its trademark sound to new influences and topics without sacrificing their one-of-a-kind bleeding edge.
White Lung's fourth studio album, 2016's Paradise, is a dynamic, purposeful work by a band coming into its own.
Vancouver noiseniks White Lung return with an album that tones down the pace of previous offerings but turns up the pop: an intriguing transition.
About 20 seconds into "Narcoleptic," the second song on White Lung's latest, Paradise, Kenneth William's guitar drops out of the mix, leavin...
Earlier this year, Kenneth William and Mish Barber-Way of Vancouver punks White Lung told Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) that the goal for their fourth album Paradise was for it to sound modern, like it was made in 2016.
An abrasive hardcore band progressing from pummeling noise to nuanced songwriting is hardly novel in 2016. It's almost perfunctory, part of the Internet's cred-to-buzz-to-respectability-to-longevity arc.
When Annie Clark of St. Vincent champions a band, you sit down, shut the fuck up, and listen to them. It’s easy to see what drew her to Canadian
'Paradise' by White Lung, album review by Gregory Adams. The full-length comes out on March 6th via Domino. Lead single "Hungry" is now available to stream.