Some songs capture the spirit and spit of the moment, embracing both the frustration of our heartache/heartbreak/angst without knowing all the particulars. Such is “Back to Life”, the lead single from the upcoming Holy Wars LP Mother Father. Bathed in bass tones equally informed by desire and resignation plus a viscera-shredding vocal take from Kat Leon, the song seeks to elevate the soul while never forgetting the depth of pain from which said soul has emerged.
The single and the larger body of work is itself, such an exploration: Having lost both her parents in 2015, Leon entered a prolonged period of silence during which she meditated on death, the occult and a failed musical project. In writing the material that comprises Mother Father, Leon had stumbled upon a profound stream of release.
“Back to Life” stands as the first song written for Holy Wars and the first lyrics Leon penned after the death of her parents. “It was the first moment when I started to feel the spark of life again,” she recalls. “The lyrics show how I was feeling at the time. I had this overwhelming sadness and darkness in me. I felt like I was walking through mud also emerging into a new identity. At the time,” she continues, “I felt as if I died with my parents. ‘Back to Life’ was the representation of a new beginning. Although I still feel like most of me is with them in the ashes I buried in the sand back in 2015, I was forced to start over.”
Holy Wars releases Mother Father on 3 November.