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Track-by-Track: Inside Voices Break Down Their New EP ‘Liminal Space’

Listen up and listen closely, because you won’t want to miss Inside Voices and the release of the band’s new EP, ‘Liminal Space’! Enjoy our exclusive track-by-track breakdown.

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Listen up and listen closely, because you won’t want to miss Inside Voices and the release of the band’s new EP, Liminal Space! The album was announced late last year, an assemblage of songs that showcases the foursome’s originality and astuteness as a more emotive alternative rock group that they have been finetuning since the release of their 2018 debut album, Consecutive Normal Songs.

There’s a vulnerability to these songs that is indicative of the times in which they were written. It’s obviously been an anxious, uncertain time, and Inside Voices stylishly tap into that collective discomfort. Musically, the songs feature intricate riffs, imaginative lyrics, and a whole lot of melody that is both accessible and feels original. The group has been very much moulded by the influences of acts like Delta Sleep, Title Fight, and Glocca Morra, and through these six tracks, they demonstrate that they belong in the conversation about today’s best young alternative rock acts.

With today the street date for Liminal Space, we caught up with the members of Inside Voices for a track-by-track rundown of all six songs, as we learn more about what went on behind the scenes to produce this impressive new release.

1. “A Hero Appears”

“With this being the first song on the EP, we wanted to start with something strong and fun. This is definitely the most technical song out of the bunch. It originated from a loop (lead singer) Tyler (Jones) wrote a few years ago, and then it made a reappearance during practice one day. We decided to build off of that loop and it led us to this song. The song, lyrically, is influenced by an anime called Ping Pong the Animation. There are a lot of very interesting philosophies in that show, but Tyler put a lot of emphasis on the concept of untapped potential in this song. Something repeated in the show quite a bit is ‘a hero appears,’ so that seemed fitting for the title.”

2. “Thanks, Prometheus”

“This song was a lot of fun to write. It was put together piece by piece with Tyler and (guitarist) Alex (Stokes) sending guitar riffs back and forth, and then whenever we finally sat down with (drummer) Connor (Matthews), it just flowed out so naturally. The meaning of this song is based on the fact that innovation, despite doing some wonderful things for society, seems to lead somewhere we have no control over. A ‘pandora’s box” sort of scenario. We did not want to name the song ‘Pandora’s Box” due to that being a little bland. So Tyler looked into the origin story of Pandora’s Box, only to learn that basically, Prometheus did something to anger Zeus, which led to the whole Pandora’s Box scenario. So that’s how we landed on the name.”

Artwork for the EP ‘Liminal Space’ by Inside Voices

3. “Snooze”

“We knew as soon as we finished writing this song, it was going to be the single. This song was fun in every aspect. From writing, jamming, recording, so on and so forth. The lyrics for this song were written right in the middle of the pandemic. Hitting the snooze and slipping into the rut of reluctantly crawling out of bed every single morning started to become the norm. A habit like this can only lead to more dread, which is the last thing you want to feel during a global shutdown. So, the song eventually starts highlighting the desire to get better.”

4. “Interjacent” (feat. Strawboy)

“This song started with a guitar riff that Alex wrote. We were not super certain what to do with it until somebody had the genius idea to let a friend of ours make a lo-fi beat with the riff. So we contacted our good buddy Davis. This guy is an absolutely incredible musician. It was truly an honour for us to be able to collaborate with him for this release. We have been bugging him to release his own music, so hopefully, that will be something to look forward to in the near future. He also brought in an old friend of ours, Connor Underwood, who provided all the Rhodes piano on the track. Connor was in bands and around the same music scene as some of us years ago so it was really cool to be able to work with him again.”

5. “CTRL + R”

“This one is an interesting one. Had we not been so confident in ‘Snooze’ being the single, this song was a close runner-up. It was an absolute blast to write from start to finish. Recording this song was also a good time because our audio engineer really knocked the tones out of the water in each part (as he always does). The lyrics for this one were sort of derived by highlighting how we are able to cultivate meaningful relationships online.”

6. “Liminal Space”

“Ah, the title track. This song was truly a surprise considering Tyler, Alex, and Connor wrote it from scratch, extremely drunk, at 3 am on a Saturday. We had no intention of writing that night, but this song just seemed destined to be created. It was the last song we needed for the EP, and it really ended up being such a good closing song. It is definitely a lot ‘darker’ compared to our other songs but the theme of this song, overall, really seems to highlight the entire EP. The lyrics for this song go hand in hand with the looming feeling we all feel when trying to make progress in life. Whenever we find ourselves in that weird spot of being in the middle of leaving what was, but also not quite being at what will be.”

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