Explorers by Unleash The Archers

The first single from Explorers is a cover of a very well known Canadian folk song called Northwest Passage, written by a much-loved folk singer out of eastern Canada by the name of Stan Rogers. This song means a lot to us as a band, we like to put it on during those long drives on tour and it always brings us right back home. We originally recorded it to be a bonus track for our last full length album Apex, but we loved the track so much we knew it needed special treatment. We held on to it for a bit and eventually decided to release it as its own 7" vinyl EP with another Canadian cover song as the B side. The song Northwest Passage is all about touring through Canada, which Stan Rogers did a lot, and how it equates to being an explorer looking for the passage all those years ago. It really hits home with us, we've toured through Canada too many times to count, so we know just how Stan was feeling. That's where the name of the EP came from too; every time we hit the road on tour it's like we too become Explorers, with the great big unknown stretching out before us.

The second single is a cover of a song by a Canadian hair metal band from the 80's called Teaze. They are not super well known, but that's why we gravitated towards them. The song 'Heartless World' has a really interesting arrangement and can't seem to decide if it's a ballad or a rock opera. Unlike Northwest Passage, where we played around with it quite a bit, we left 'Heartless World' almost completely as is, and only changed a few small things like solos and vocal melodies. We thought it would be a great companion piece to 'Northwest Passage' and really round out the moody 'Explorers' vibe.

The artwork on Explorers is by Dusty Peterson and we feel it captures the essence of seeking the Northwest Passage perfectly. If you have ever read 'The Terror' by Dan Simmons or watched the show you'll know exactly what we were going for. This EP has darkness written all over it, but the songs themselves have a slightly uplifting undertone as well. One can only imagine how exciting it must have been to explore this unknown continent back in the day, but also, how terrifying.

© NAPALM RECORDS

Tracklist

1.	Northwest Passage	4:36

2.	Heartless World	5:49

Credits

released October 11, 2019

License