Eruption inspires lush indie pop album
1980 Mount St. Helens disaster the catalyst for Vancouver band Tourist Company’s latest effort
For his band’s new record, Tourist Company’s Taylor Swindells found himself drawn to the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
For the musician, who grew up in White Rock, the 1980 disaster had occurred close to home. And he felt that the event would be a suitable lens through which to look at how people react to cataclysmic events.
“The record is built around how we respond to big, tragic news,” said Swindells. “It takes the perspectives of different people, some closer and some more removed from the eruption itself. The imagery of the eruption is quite cataclysmic, and I found that very striking. I was thinking about how volatile the world had become.”
Musically, St. Helens is a lush, layered indie-pop record that recalls Bellingham’s Death Cab for Cutie in the vocals and expansive arrangements. Except for a few assists — like strings by the Chan Brothers, Brian and Caleb, and bass from Olivier Clements — Swindells and his Tourist Company partner Brenon Parry recorded the songs themselves.
The two formed the band in 2013, and released their debut full-length, Apollo, in 2016.
Like St. Helens, that record featured songs based on an idea — in its case, space exploration.
“It starts with a concept for us,” Swindells said. “I like records that feel cohesive. I like having a unifying device to make everything belong.”
Like Mt. St. Helens, outer space dates back to fascinations he had when he was a kid.
“I watched all the documentaries I could about space, and I watched the movie Apollo 13 endlessly. When we started as a band so much was unknown about what we were venturing into, starting music as a career, and so those images came flooding back when we were writing that record.”
Now, the songs on St. Helens are even more relevant than when he and Parry wrote them.
“I remember listening to it again when we got the record on vinyl,” Swindells said.
“It was right after the beginning of the lockdown. It felt a little too apt for what was happening in reality.”
Perhaps no track reflects our current condition more than the jumpy, hook-heavy Conflicted/ Restricted. The track was the first single from the album, released in January of last year.
“Lyrically, it ties in closely with that first reaction we had when this began.
“It’s a song about a situation being completely out of your control and dealing with the strain of that, and feeling like there’s nothing you can do to change things.”
The pandemic hasn’t affected the release date for the album, which (almost) coincides with the anniversary of the May 18, 1980 eruption. But with no tour dates in the works Swindells and Parry are planning to promote the album on social media. Parry will preview the album today on YouTube, and on Saturday Swindells will take to the platform to perform the first half of record solo.
With the music industry more or less on hold, and the future uncertain, he’s trying to stay optimistic.
“Some days we’re like, ‘We can make this work.’ In many ways, we’re better equipped than previous generations to handle an event like this because the internet has made connecting with fans and other artists so much easier.
“It’s still possible to collaborate and keep working and connect with people. But it still feels like the legs have been cut out from under a lot of what we do. Some days that catches up with us.”