> STREAM: The Town Heroes – Home
RIYL: Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age
In the summer of 1999, a father — longing for what he left behind — returns with his family to his hometown of Inverness, Nova Scotia, after moving to San Francisco for work. There, he re-experiences the charms of his small, close-knit community. A young “local” boy falls for his daughter, and a short romance ensues. The 9 songs on Home, told from 3 different perspectives, tell a chronological tale of coming home, youth, and ultimately, lost love.
“I wanted to make an album that paid tribute to small-town Cape Breton in the summer,” said The Town Heroes‘ Mike Ryan (he/him). “It was such a magical time when your tiny, quiet hometown was suddenly overflowing with new people, energy and endless possibilities. I couldn’t have written these songs earlier in my life, because it takes a certain amount of time to pass to be able to look back upon those years with the proper lens of nostalgia.”
That star-crossed romance at the heart of Home begins to unfold on focus track “The Walk,” as the young “local” man makes his way to a summer dance at the Strathlorne Hall.
“After successfully securing alcohol — 4 litres of Tropikiwi cooler — from a town legend named Chi Chi, the boy is drunk for the first time in his life,” said Ryan. “En route to the dance, he walks along a path where the old railway tracks used to run into Inverness. In his mind, every good thing he’s ever imagined is at the tip of his fingers.”
Mixed by Nico Essig (The Rolling Stones, Kings of Leon, Father John Misty), “Queen” tells the story of their meeting. With the confidence gained from a river of sugary booze in his system, the boy asks the girl to dance. He learns she’s from San Francisco, and it’s love at first sight.
“There’s something about the sense of home attached to being from a small town,” said Ryan. “I’ve met people from bigger places who just don’t have it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for most of the people I know from small towns, there’s a sense of pride and connection that exists between them and their home. I wanted to capture that here.”
An upbeat, energetic rock song with tender falsetto vocals sitting atop fuzzed out guitars and driving drums, lead single “Fuse” is a love letter to firsts, the summer, and carefree days where everything you hope for is falling into place.
“‘Fuse’ is a song about the initial stages of falling for someone; when new love is written all over your face and, in your mind, will last forever,” Ryan said. “Appropriately, the video for ‘Fuse’ was shot in the Inverness Miners Museum, the day before the building sold. The museum pays tribute to the history of the town of Inverness, the video acting as a final curtain call to the chronicles of the small town that inspired the song.”
Home captures the energy and spirit of a youthful summer and coming of age. It’s a soundtrack for the summer that’s relatable and, most importantly during the current locked-down world we live in: fun. It’s a time before the internet and social media, when you talked face-to-face or on a landline you prayed wasn’t answered by cross-examining parents.
