Motherhood and the psych avant rock spiral of "Shepherd" (Official filmic Video)

 

"and never told the farmer what I'd seen..."

From the moment "Shepherd" begins with the sort of cagey Farfisa-esque organ tones, shifty eyed sounds, the abrupt breaks for the drums strikes to fall in like random Pachinko balls I know things felt a bit off, off in glorious ways. The band is Fredericton, NB, Canada based avant rock trio Motherhood and once those drum beats shift into a kind of Dennis Wilson "Don't Worry Baby" pattern and the vocal harmonies runaway with themselves as if to work in double time duty over that beat you will smile, maybe feel a bit confused (when the Beach Boy-ish vocals come in) but feel utterly giddy as your eyebrows raise. 

It is not surprising that the demo for "Shepherd" was called "Creepy Motel". Motherhood member Penelope Stevens expounds:  

"I kept picturing someone walking through the halls of a motel, with shag carpet and cigarette smoke. The demo was originally called 'Creepy Motel', for that reason, even though the song ended up being about sheep. We spent a long time playing with major and minor transitions, taking inspiration from the Marty Robbin’s Gunfighter Ballads and old westerns. Then Brydon (Crain, singer) wrote the verses and chord progression, and we battled it all out until basically the night before we went into the studio. For being such a hard-won song, it ended up being one of our collective favourites, for sure."

For me "Shepherd" is one of those songs that leave more questions than serve up answers but that is alright. I run towards songs to inspire imagery in my head and /or to swim in the emotional tensions that I feel while listening and like a mysterious / curious Netflix or Hulu binger, "Shepherd" draws me into it's intriguing atmospheres. The sound, if a movie, feels like a late 70's comic /drama noir and I dig it.

The Official Lyric Video is totally filmic, darkly captivating, may have a self flagellation thing going on (or not) and elevates the song experience even more.  

-Robb Donker Curtius 

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://www.facebook.com/motherhoodmusic

https://motherhoodmusic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mightymightymums/

https://motherhood.website/


Fredericton, New Brunswick

Motherhood is an avant-rock trio from Fredericton, NB, Canada.

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Motherhood, Canada, three piece band, avant rock, art rock, alt rock, indie rock, "Shepherd", flocking, flagellation, emotional tensions, the Beach Boys,