The Perfect Storm With COURTNEY LaPLANTE From SPIRITBOX

Interview by Kris Peters
Driven by a desire to rise beyond their surroundings in the
picturesque yet isolated region of Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada, vocalist Courtney Laplante and guitarist Mike Stringer
combined to form Spiritbox in 2017.
Little did they know their musical trajectory from there would be
swift and monumental, cementing themselves as a household name in
the Summer of 2020 with the release of their blistering breakout
single Holy Roller, along with a host of other captivating singles
shortly after resulting in a media firestorm of hype.
The following year Spiritbox released their debut album Eternal
Blue, kicking open the doors of the heavy metal scene and rewriting
the genre's playbook with 12 stunning tracks that incorporated
everything from djent and post-metal to infectious synth-laden pop
sensibilities and cinematic arrangements, brought fully to life by
the inimitable Laplante's ethereal and commanding vocal
performances.
After furthering their sonic expansion over two more EPs Spiritbox
have now unleashed their sophomore album, the mesmerizing and
ferociously beautiful Tsunami Sea, once more pushing the boundaries
of acceptance in a genre that is often restricting by nature. It is
an album of contrasting styles and emotions, majestically entwined
with the DNA from which Spiritbox have built their empire.
There is a storm coming indeed, and that storm is called Tsunami
Sea.
HEAVY spoke with Laplante to discuss things in more detail.
"A lot of work went into it with the planning," she mused. "When we
do a full-length album it's usually - if you do it more
traditionally like how we are doing this one - a whole dramatic,
climactic roll out. You start promoting it. You want to give it a
fair shot. So you start promoting it early, and it's just this huge
big climactic thing. Like you said, it's like D Day."
We ask Courtney to dive into the musical side of Tsunami Sea and
what the band were going for with it.
"I don't normally say this until after the album comes out, but all
of our work… everything. Everything we've ever made, any body of
work is actually a concept album but we don't market it as a
concept album," she revealed."This one is no different. Each body
of work has its own little story and the story of this one is… it's
just representing, lyrically, myself, and then instrumentally
Michael expressing the push and pull that we feel being from an
island off the West coast of Canada. It's interesting living there
if your goal is to leave the island and go play your music to other
people. As you guys know too. it's the same that a lot of
Australian bands think sometimes as well when they're trying to
leave. You feel so remote and isolated and it feels impossible to
leave. And then you leave and you miss it. That really intertwines
with me with depression. Like, deteriorating mental health. There's
the deep depression and then there can be mania then deep
depression, and it's so polarizing. It reminded me of the ocan and
it reminded me of growing up surrounded by water and it reminded me
of how where are from… whre we are at sea level if the big
earthquake - everyone here calls it The Big One - ever happens, our
whole island will either completely be submerged by water and we'll
all die, or at least we'' be more cut off and no-one could get us
any food or anything. It's kind of like that existential dread
under the surface that you push down and suppress and to live your
life you have to push it all the way down, and not every day wake
up and hope it's not today."
In the full interview, Courtney opens up more about Tsunami Sea,
the temptations of rehashing the same winning formula that worked
so well with Eternal Blue, why it was important to not do that,
album opener Fata Morgana and why it was chosen as first point of
contact, how Tsunami Sea represents Spiritbox moving forward, the
early days of the band and the climate that spawned them, their
early success and how they dealt with it, touring plans and
more.


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