Like the first five Fucked Up albums, One Day presents itself with a concept — with the difference that this does not touch on the themes addressed, but on the way in which it was conceived. It’s in the title: compose and record an album in 24 hours. The experience is a success: One Day is certainly sometimes brutal, but above all melodious, emphatic and irresistibly warm.
“We kind of discovered what simplicity was,” summarizes Jonah Falco, composer, drummer and artistic director of the most fascinating Canadian rock group, joined in his barge docked on the banks of the Thames, in the British capital.
“Well, I’m not the only artistic director of the group, nuance Falco, but I do play an important role with regard to the way in which the music of the group is presented. I’m also Mike’s musical confidant [Haliechuk, guitare et chant], which leads the musical creation. My role has always revolved around production and sound refinement, especially in recent years when our work has taken on all sorts of directions. I’m a bit like the “Jack of all trades” of the group, or the consigliere music by mike! »
The musician has lived in London for a few years, working remotely on the multiple projects of Fucked Up, in addition to collaborating, as drummer, producer or sound engineer, on friends’ albums. The distance between Mike and him has its importance in the creation of One Dayas explained by consigliere.
“In January 2020, I received this email from Mike: about ten demos of songs, just guitar tracks, about a hundred in all. He had composed and recorded them alone, in three eight-hour sessions. The idea is that I had to listen to it quickly and respond to it with my drum tracks, all recorded in 24 hours”, and so on for the other members of the group, up to Damian Abraham, vocalist bestial which alone justifies the nevertheless reductive label hardcore defining the sound of the group.
The idea was certainly born just before the pandemic, but the observation holds despite everything: while the confinements have offered musicians all the time desired to refine their albums down to the smallest detail, why then persist in closing One Day in one day ? Answer: because in his spare time, Fucked Up has also completed a new chapter in his ambitious series of singles. Zodiacstarted in 2006.
The album does not exist in its own narrative universe, like the previous ones
Thus, in May 2021, the group launched Year of the Horsean album in four acts of hardcore (sometimes turning folk), progressive and theatrical, each lasting 19 to 26 minutes, in which Julien Baker, Matt Beringer of The National collaborated and, on the texts, the Toronto playwright and poet David James Brock (when we tell you that Fucked Up is the most fascinating Canadian rock band!).
Year of the Horse having been a real construction site as was the epic rock opera David Comes to Life (2011), we deduce that One Day sought precisely to explore its opposite, which Jonah confirms. “This project exists within the rules imposed, within our limits of time and space, but also within the autonomy that each member had to assume. We also allowed ourselves the luxury of supplementing the idea of the other musicians, composing and recording the songs as in the Arabic telephone: Damien, the last to work there, could have a completely different interpretation of the song than the others. »
And, according to Falco, One Day reveals the impulsive nature of Fucked Up, which the refinement of previous albums did not reveal. “On all our albums, every detail was studied, calibrated, the meaning of the texts like the sound of the instruments, and Year of the Horswas designed in this tradition. But Fucked Up is really a very impulsive band — even the decision to make David Comes to Life came on a whim. »
One Day is unique in the band’s exciting discography because, first of all, it’s the shortest — ten songs, about forty minutes, even Jonah can’t believe it! —, then because it’s less fierce. “It’s true that this is Fucked Up’s most accessible album,” agrees the drummer, emphasizing Haliechuk’s melodious playing and the epic, rock’n’roll aspect of the choruses.
Moreover, “the album does not exist in its own narrative universe, like the previous ones, adds Falco. [Mike et Damian, paroliers et chanteurs] touch on the idea of awareness of oneself and one’s environment”, the kind of reflection induced by long confinements… “In their very personal way, they try to understand the world around us”, the efficiency and the energy of Fucked Up helping us in turn to better understand ourselves.