Track-by-Track: Dear Spring Detail Their New EP ‘Moments’

More than just songwriters, Dear Spring specializes in the creation of “anthems,” you know, forceful songs that get the whole crowd singing along. Not to be limited by a particular sound or genre, the band takes the best elements from all the generations and offshoots of punk rock to create a sound that is fun, and fresh. Despite the months and years of isolation, the four members of Dear Spring have effectively found a way to blend together into one very cohesive unit, delivering hard-driving vocals, catchy layered guitars, and a well-defined rhythm section.

It’s a particularly monumental day for Dear Spring, as today marks the release of their new EP Moments, via Open Your Ears Records. The record is the product of a collaboration between the band and Nik Bruzesse, well known and well regarded for his work as the frontman of Man Overboard. Bruzesse really helped the group sound brighter and more refined than ever, with this their best batch of songs yet.

To get a better sense of what this band and EP are all about, vocalist/guitarist David Colon-Margolies joins us today for a special track-by-track rundown of all six songs on Moments. Read on as they explain and contextualize this impressive new release.

1. “Wooden Fences”

David Colon-Margolies: “The music for the first track ‘Wooden fences’ was written by our drummer Marty. He demoed the song after drawing inspiration from the music in Avatar: The Last Airbender which caught us all by surprise in the best way. We ran the song as a band and gave everyone a chance to contribute. Kam modified the chord voicings, I added some leads inspired by Blue-era Third Eye Blind, and Jonah crafted the lyrics. Together we wrote the bridge with the intention of making it a big sing-along moment.”

2. “Vultures”

“The working title for ‘Vultures’ was ‘HYEAH’ as a sort of jab at ourselves for veering more into alternative rock. I wrote the first version of the song which sounded a lot closer to Bleed American than where it ended up. Initially, we weren’t sure it would make it on the record, but we felt strongly that we wanted to debut a more mature sound and incorporate influences beyond our pop punk. Jonah and I produced our own vocals almost entirely for this track as we weren’t able to finish them before leaving The Gradwell House.”

3. Every Now And Then”

“‘Every Now And Then’ was initially written in 2018 by Kam but didn’t find a home in Dear Spring until inspiration struck in 2019 when I had just finished setting up my home studio (Eel Point Studios) and had Marty over to jam and write. The 2 of us refined the song and I demoed the first hook as a vocal test. Hearing the demo lit a fire under Jonah who quickly wrote the rest of the song. ‘Every Now And Then’ ended up being the first song we finished for Moments.”

4. “Newspeak”

“‘Newspeak’ is probably the most meaningful song to me. When writing the lyrics, I was having strong feelings about the division and polarization in our society and wanted to push people to look inwards and take responsibility for their own lives. It was also an important step for me incorporating some of my emo and indie influences like Taking Back Sunday, Thrice, and Balance and Composure. We took a solid 2 hours just to get the guitar tone to my liking on that one.”

5. “Revolution”

“Kam wrote the lead parts for ‘Revolution’ a few weeks before we went into the Gradwell House. We weren’t able to make a full song out of it before leaving for the studio and at first, we thought we’d save it for the next record. Once we were at the studio, the chords came to me while listening to Kam’s demo in my bunk and we banged it out as a band in 20 minutes in the live room. The song’s name comes from an inside joke from our Gradwell Sessions.”

6. “Empty Frames”

“‘Empty Frames’ was the last song the band wrote together for the EP before leaving for the Gradwell house and I consider it to be the best showcase of the new sound we tried to bring to Moments. The lyrics are written from the trenches of working through mental health challenges. Despite all the resources and help, there comes a time when the conversation changes from curing to coping. This song is about the pain of taking the first step towards coping.”

Artwork for the album ‘Moments’ [EP} by Dear Spring