Arkells release new song Years In The Making
It’s the band’s first new music since 2018’s Rally Cry
Either Max Kerman was dangling the coyest little teaser ever or the Arkells just decided in the past few weeks to call their new song “Years In The Making.”
In any case, that’s what it’s named, “Years In The Making,” and it’s the first (and eagerly awaited) offering of new music from the band since 2018’s massively successful “Rally Cry,” for which they won Junos for Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.
When Arkells frontman Max Kerman talked to The Hamilton Spectator’s Jeremy Kemeny in early February, he wore the words “Years In The Making” on his T-shirt , but there was no indication the phrase was in any way related to an upcoming new product.
At the time, Kerman said, he’d been “kicking around” with that quote for a while, adding that it expresses a sense that all our experiences, highs and lows, give us a chance to learn and improve; perhaps like a vintage wine or anything into which great effort and all one’s being are put, like music — years in the making.
“You never know when the universe will deliver a tune from the song gods, but ‘Years In The Making’ arrived just when we needed it,” said Kerman, in announcing the release.
“Years In The Making” and the official video for it are out today through Universal Music Canada.
He added that the new song has been forged in a sense of hard-won “fierce optimism.”
The title phrase, “Years In The Making,” “leans on a question we keep coming back to. How do we conceive of everything we’ve been through and shape it to offer some love and hope. ‘Years In The Making’ is meant to encourage us to find ways to embrace the bumps in the road, because all of our challenges are ultimately there to help us work toward the dream — whatever that may be.”
The Arkells have long established a profile for themselves as committed to social programs and community initiatives and advocacy. Their latest thrust is a unique campaign to muster support for local journalism.
Earlier this month, the band launched a “stop running from the paywall” campaign to encourage people to subscribe to print and digital journalism, which is facing increasing economic challenges in the current “freemium culture.” The Arkells gave away free custom Tshirts to fans in exchange for proof of a new year-long subscription, submitted via Arkells’ website.
It was at an event to promote that campaign that Kerman wore the T-shirt with “Years In
The Making” on it, over the image of a typewriter, which we reported on here in our Feb. 5 edition. Little did anyone (except perhaps for the Arkells) know that the words would be emblazoned not just across Tshirts but their new song.
The Arkells are planning to make another announcement soon, about a marquee summer show and further touring ahead.