Fen Ties Up Loose Ends with Their Single “The Password is I Believe” [Premiere]

When you have unfinished business like Fen did, the job feels like it’s not done. Well, the Western Canadian band is back to finish that job with their new single, “The Password is I Believe.” The hard-rocking song is the first from the band’s new album, Dear Mouse.

As we await the arrival of the band’s sixth proper studio album on September 12th, we have this pumped-up, high-octane tune to enjoy. Despite being a new release for the band, “The Password is I Believe” is far from a recently written track. In fact, the whole Dear Mouse album has been in various stages of development for some time.

Commenting on the song, lead singer Doug Harrison states:

“The lyrics were inspired by a search for a bush party in the Kootenays about 25 years ago. It’s one of those journey vs. destination themes, although we never found the party, so the journey won out by default. When (guitarist) Sam (Levin) first gave me the riff to work with, all I could think of was ’80s cock rock. I went with it, and the tune we ended up with might be as catchy and extroverted as Fen will ever get.”

Fen first emerged in 1998 in the small city of Nelson, British Columbia. They then went on a productive run of albums and tours with the high point being the highly regarded Trails Out of Gloom record released via Ripple Music. Then a hiatus ensued and it is now being broken with the release of Dear Mouse. It breaks a twelve-year silence and features ten new songs that have all been at various stages of development for over a decade. The writing process for each song was started in 2014 or before. Many of the songs sat as fragmented pieces for many years. Life pulled the band members apart, but they eventually returned to these songs.

They ultimately decided these songs were too good to just bury forever. So they chipped away at them, and the result is Dear Mouse. The album combines hard-ripping rockers with some poppier elements along the way. The future for Fen is not necessarily set in stone. They are just glad to have these songs out for whoever wants to experience them. Dear Mouse was a test of perseverance, and now that the test has been passed, they’ll wait and see what the future holds.

Fen ‘Dear Mouse’ album artwork