Track-by-Track: Written By Wolves Invite You into ‘The Lighthouse’

Last Friday, New Zealand’s highest-streaming rock band, Written By Wolves, released their highly-anticipated new record, The Lighthouse. Speaking about the album, vocalist Michael Murphy revealed:

“This album has been two years in the making and it’s been over a year since we released the first single “Give ’Em Hell.” We are so excited to finally have it out in the world and cannot wait to hear what you all think. If you get a chance, listen from start to finish to make sure you get the story in full…”

To find out more about the story inspiring the record, V13 sat down with the New Zealand band for a track-by-track rundown starting with the band revealing more about the concept of the record.

“The Lighthouse is a concept album that picks up where Secrets (our debut album) left off. Where Secrets was about the thoughts and feelings that we don’t feel comfortable talking about and the effect that has on our mental health, The Lighthouse is about what pulls you out of those dark places.

It looks at the concept of home – not necessarily a physical place, but the one that makes you feel comfortable, that puts you at ease and makes you feel safe. The Lighthouse is about finding the things that lead you back to that concept of home when we are in our darkest moments.”

1. “Adrift”

“As mentioned above, The Lighthouse is a concept album, each song is designed to fit as part of a bigger overall picture that when listened to in its entirety tells the full story of the struggle to find our way back home when we are in our darkest moments. ‘Adrift’ is designed to set the scene. It opens with the sound of a lighthouse mechanism whirring but descends into the chaos that brings us to ‘Give ‘Em Hell’.”

2. “Give ’Em Hell”

“‘Give ‘Em Hell’ is a full fight or flight dystopian fever dream where the world has descended to the brink of Armageddon. It looks at the state of the world and our place in it, a place that can seem so helpless and insignificant at times. Through this helplessness, it implores the idea that there is a choice to be made and that uniting and putting aside our differences is the only way to avoid the inevitable, impending Armageddon…”

3. “Misery”

“‘Misery’ is an emphatic plea for something more in life than what we have been sold. The broken mental health systems, the loneliness and isolation felt by so many in a day and age in which we are more connected than ever, the overworked and stretched teachers, nurses, doctors and employees in almost every industry, inequality in almost every aspect of society and a self-serving, capitalist ideal that is not designed to aid or look after the well-being of people, humanity or the planet, yet continues to roll on with the ferocity of a runaway steam train.

Yet, through all this, the song implores hope, that there has to be more than this and there has to be a way to dig ourselves out of the hole we find ourselves in – that we are not just made for misery and through all the negativity there is beauty in the world and the desire of those that wish to change it for the better.”

4. “Dark Places”

“‘Dark Places’ is the continued descent into the breakdown, the frantic, continued feeling of impending doom that often proceeds a panic attack.”

5. “Burn”

“‘Burn’ is one of those if you don’t laugh you’ll cry type moments. An almost tongue-in-cheek look at the state of the world. No matter where you turn right now you find the world in complete disarray and it doesn’t take too cynical of a mind to think that humanity is doomed… This song plays with the idea that perhaps we have let it go too far, we are beyond the tipping point and the only thing left to do is to sit back and watch it burn.”

Written By Wolves ‘The Lighthouse’ Album Artwork

6. “Please Just Breathe”

“‘Please, Just Breathe’ is the personal tragedy that continues the descent into dark places. While the subject matter prior has focused on the state of the world and the unshakeable feeling of helplessness and impending doom, this is the personal moment in which time stops and everything else seems to disappear.

‘Please, Just Breathe’ documents the day that my (Mikey) Dad died. I was 5 hours away from him on the day that he was rushed to the hospital and it was an emphatic plea for him to ‘please, just breathe’ until I could get to his bedside. While this is an incredibly personal track I hope that anyone struggling with life right now can find solace within the story and the mantra to please, just breathe.”

7. “Write The Ending”

“‘Write The Ending’ is the precursor to the turning point, it is a realisation that we are not asking for the world, but rather, the chance to have autonomy over ourselves and the life we lead. But ultimately, the strength to come to this realisation stems from connection, the feeling that we are no longer alone, that connection can make you feel as though you have the power to take on the world.”

8. “A Light In The Darkness”

“‘A Light In The Darkness’ is a closer look at that connection and the power that brings. The mental shift that comes about from the magic of finding an ally, someone to take on the world with, someone that makes you feel safe.”

9. “Goddess”

“‘Goddess’ is love, it’s lust, sex, desire, devotion, adoration and hopeless, eternal connection. It’s both crippling affection and white, hot eternal love.
It’s the dizzying realization that this devotion is infinite, both eye-opening and blinding at the same time, it will burn as hot as the sun but also leave you chilled to the bone. This unending connection will lead you to the ends of the earth, through time and space with an energy that simply cannot be destroyed.”

10. “The Lighthouse”

“‘The Lighthouse’ is the embodiment of the entire concept, the crux of the story. It is the turning point and the moment of realisation that we don’t have to go through these things alone. It is not a weakness to allow someone or something to help us find our way back home, but in fact strength. These are very normal struggles that everyone goes through – and if everyone is experiencing these same struggles and trying to find their way back home, then we’re never really alone at all. It is about finding your lighthouse, and realising that while it might not always be obvious, it is always there and the light is always on.”

11. “Take Me Home”

“‘Take Me Home’ continues the progression to allowing yourself to find your way home. It acknowledges the breakdown, the dark places that you are in but also the clarity to see that you no longer want to be in that place anymore. Removing the power that they have over you and allowing your lighthouse, whatever that may be to help you and show you the way home.”

12. “Memory”

“‘Memory’ is a further acknowledgement of those things that have a hold over you and the dark places they can take you, but it is the moment of casting them aside and allowing them to be your past and no longer your present. To allow these negative things to become memories that we can learn from, that can make us stronger rather than continue to keep us down and shackled in dark places.”

13. “Altar”

“‘Altar’ is a realisation, a call to action, a moment of understanding and a decision to let go of that which holds you down. To shed the unnecessary, negative influences that so often rule our lives and cloud our judgement. It is the simple action of allowing yourself to no longer worship the parts of society that are not designed for the betterment of life and humanity. It is the final battle cry and the conclusion to the story, the moment of release when you find your way home and the euphoria that accompanies that moment of realising that for now, you have beaten your demons. It’s over.”