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Antilock Premiere Their Thoughtful New Single “Next Time”

While the thought may strike fear, there isn’t always a “Next Time,” which is a harsh reality that Antilock (Cal Churchill and Cam Czadzeck) come to terms with in their new single.

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Antilock, photo by Mars Ballantyne

While the thought may strike fear, there isn’t always a “Next Time,” which is a harsh reality that Antilock come to terms with in their new single.

The Brooklyn by way of Rochester, New York shoegazers, songwriters and producers Cal Churchill and Cam Czadzeck are set to release their new album Everything I’ve Been Needing in the near future, and “Next Time” is your first sip of what’s to come on that album. The song has a classic enough sound and is also quite radio-friendly, as well as being musically diverse. Check out the change in course the song takes towards the end, with some pretty fantastic synths that arrive to help build towards the song’s epic conclusion.

Commenting on the writing process behind “Next Time” and its deeper meaning, Cal Churchill says:

“Sometimes, a song can take weeks to write and record, and sometimes it just jumps out of you, and it’s complete within an hour. ‘Next Time’ was one of the fast ones. It started with me noodling around with a bassline, and Cam started playing a beautiful guitar line on top of it. We added some drums, overdubbed more guitars and synths, and before we knew it, we had ‘Next Time’ recorded. I don’t think we got up from Cam’s couch before the instrumental was done. As soon as we played back the rough mix, we knew we had something special.

“Lyrically, it’s about unexpected loss, especially of something that one views as a constant in their life. The sort of destabilizing feeling where you can’t really fathom what’s just happened, but you have to keep going in spite of it. And then, it suddenly hits you that your last interaction was really the last. That sensation of finality can be a lonely feeling, but I know that a lot of people have experience with it, and I just wanted to try to give words to it.”

Antilock originally formed with Churchill and Czadzeck still in college as a garage rock duo. Eventually, that got shelved, but they reformed a few years after graduating, reemerging in a whole new form, now less of a garage rock entity and more of an indie, electronic pop act. They feel more comfortable now operating within a shoegaze-y framework, playing regularly locally and building an audience from the ground up.

Everything I’ve Been Needing is a real expansion of Antilock’s sound, a musically varied and versatile record full of layered guitars, nice vocal harmonies, and, as you hear on this track, a wide range of synthesizers and samples. Churchill is adventurous as a lyricist, exploring queer love, the long-term effects of grief, and the nature of finding joy in a sometimes hopeless feeling world. Czadzeck and Churchill work very effectively as a team and are excited to see where the music takes them as they begin to plot their next musical journey.

Antilock “Next Time” single artwork, photo by Django Skorupa, design by Cam Czadzeck

Antilock “Next Time” single artwork, photo by Django Skorupa, design by Cam Czadzeck

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