Ahead of their appearance at ArcTanGent Festival this weekend, Svalbard have shared a third track from their upcoming album, ‘The Weight Of The Mask‘. ‘How To Swim Down’ showcases the quartet’s harmonious side with guitarist Liam Phelan providing an ethereal violin to the powerful track.
“This song is about the exquisite pain and sorrowful beauty of unrequited love. I think it’s the saddest, most heart-breaking song we’ve ever written,” explained Svalbard vocalist/guitarist Serena Cherry. “Lyrically, the starting point of the verse is about concealment of adoration, before the chorus gives way to realising and accepting a fate of loving someone quietly from afar.”
On speaking about the musical departure of ‘How To Swim Down’s, Cherry said “Musically, How To Swim Down saw us dive into unchartered waters with Liam adding many layers of mournful violin parts onto the track. Finally, violins – for the first time in Svalbard history! It feels so exciting to have new instruments on a song. Another first is that ‘How To Swim Down’ features only clean vocals, no screams. I wanted the vocal delivery of these lyrics to feel as though I’m whispering a secret to someone whilst they’re sleeping. My vocals here represent that lonely type of communication, singing to yourself in an empty house. It’s a private, selfless love song, where only the listener knows of my heartache.”
The track is accompanied by a beautiful animated video, created by Boy Tillken, which Serena states she cannot watch the video without crying. “Boy has captured the bittersweet emotion of the song so delicately, it’s an incredibly moving piece of animation to watch,” she says.
‘The Weight Of The Mask’ will be released through Nuclear Blast on October 6th. Fans can pre-order/pre-save the album here.
