COMMON DEER ANNOUNCE RELEASE OF DEBUT FULL-LENGTH ALBUM MAXIMALIST OUT APRIL 1
SHARE LEAD SINGLE 90 DAYS
TORONTO, ON – February 11, 2022 – Today, Toronto's 80s-inspired modern synth-pop band, Common Deer, announce the release of their debut full-length album, MAXIMALIST, and share a first taste of the record with lead single, 90 Days. Arriving on April 1st, MAXIMALIST shows Common Deer at their most polished, having shifted from their indie roots towards a synth-driven alternative pop sound. Pre-save the album here and listen to/watch 90 Days now - which has already been seeing love from SiriusXM's The Verge.
Mostly completed before the pandemic, the four-piece band - comprised of two sets of siblings: Sheila Hart (vocals), Adam Hart (guitar, synthesizer), Liam Farrell (percussion, samples), and Connor Farrell (bass) - created MAXIMALIST with producer, Luke Roes, at his “small but mighty studio” in London, Ontario. A close friend of Adam’s since his band, Ivory Hours, shared a bill with Common Deer in 2016, Sheila says, “We had a great personal relationship, and he’s really pushed me as a songwriter.”
The lyrics, though, are undeniably Sheila, every “f*cked up inside” revelation, every true-to-life anecdote. “There’s been times when friends have joked, ‘Are you ever going to use a metaphor or are you always going to speak in literal terms about yourself?’" she laughs. “Write what you know” is her response. The record tackles a range of raw and honest themes, from mental health, abuse, and addiction, to sexism and obsession, all with an undeniably raw vulnerability. "MAXIMALIST is a celebration of excess and a refusal to compromise, however misguided that might be,” Sheila adds.
On MAXIMALIST, she takes two different approaches, such as in the lead track Negative Thot and the first single, 90 Days. On 90 Days, she writes “I get carried away with my heart,” but notes that a traditional treatment program is not a panacea; while in Negative Thot she’s having more fun with it with lines like, “I’m f*cking crazy and I like it.”
“Negative Thot is a song where I’m just giving in to those emotions - ‘this is me', while 90 Days is ‘this is how I am, but this is not how I want to be',” Sheila says. "90 Days is about my experience with Borderline Personality Disorder and emotional dysregulation. While I've come a long way managing my mental illness, this song is a reminder that there is no quick fix, and I have to actively work on this forever if I don't want it to destroy my life."
Other songs, like destined singles, Fuckboi, Guts and LonelyFans, are also quite personal. Fuckboi is a diss to a guy Sheila dated and ghosted her, but after her BPD diagnosis she realized “girl, maybe you’re the problem.” Guts is about being disrespected as a young woman in the music industry; and LonelyFans is a reflection of how she might have spent time during the pandemic had she been born just a few years later.
Stay tuned as Common Deer’s MAXIMALIST album adventure unfolds this spring.
MAXIMALIST TRACKLISTING:
1. Negative Thot
2. Fuckboi
3. Cruel and Usual Punishment
4. LonelyFans
5. 90 Days
6. Take Me Home
7. Guts
8. Running
DOWNLOAD – single artwork | DOWNLOAD – hi-res press photo
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