“I am so lucky to have been a musician throughout my life,” says Hilarie Sidney, currently fronting The High Water Marks, and best known as co-founder of the revered musical collective Elephant Six, and one of its three core bands The Apples In Stereo.
Based in her adopted home town of Grøa, Norway, Sidney and The High Water Marks are prepping to release a new single “Jenny,” the band’s first new music since the 2020 release of Ecstasy Rhymes, its first album in 13 years.
“Jenny” arrives via Minty Fresh on Sept. 24th, 2021 and kicks off a series of singles that will culminate in another all-new album Proclaimer of Things on Feb. 4th, 2022.
Following-up 13 years of being off the scene with a critically and commercially welcomed new album and then quickly coming in hot with another batch of 13 songs isn’t an accident. In this case, it’s a coping mechanism.
With the United States reaching a milestone of 1 in 500 people having succumbed to COVID-19, it’s tragic news that this statistic hits home for Sidney. Her mother, half a world away, passed from the virus earlier this year.
“Not being able to see her and knowing that she was alone, dying in a nursing home, still haunts me daily,” Sidney courageously reveals. “Ecstasy Rhymes had been such a fun and positive experience, but it became an emotionally turbulent time since my mom was sick. The pandemic didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon, and it was so discouraging.”
Sidney knew that when she began to build a life in Norway with her band mate and husband Per Ole Bratset and their son, that she would be just a 12-hour flight from the rest of her family, but that 12 hours became something completely different under lockdown.
“I never factored in a pandemic,” she says. “At least my mom got to hear our record before she passed away. That means a lot to me because she was always really happy and supportive of my music.”
The thirteen songs that comprise Proclaimer of Things are just a drop in the bucket, considering how much Sidney has leaned on songwriting to take her mind off things.
“I feel like I can’t pick up the guitar without writing a little melody. As therapy, we decided to keep recording. We dove into the project to keep us sane, focused, and from going down the rabbit hole of depression and self-pity.”
“Hilarie was on fire,” says Per Ole of Sidney’s songwriting pace. “I think these are the best she’s ever written. She has a couple of tunes that are true departures too, some really slow and psychedelic ones, in addition to the beautiful pop songs that have become her signature.
Through it all, Sidney (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, and Drums) and the rest of The High Water Marks (Bratset on Vocals & Guitars, Logan Miller on Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals, & Drums, and Øystein Megård on Drums, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, & Percussion) have made an album that is positive, light, happy, and meaningful.
“I think my mom would approve of my method of dealing with the grief of losing her. I hope that all of the positive energy and love that went into the making of this record will be felt by all who listen,” Sidney says with trademark optimism.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the band’s new single “Jenny,” a bouncing power pop anthem that is filled with infectious hooks, crashing drums and guitars, and delicious harmonies. There is a punk energy to the song that complements the sunny pop sensibility and overall feeling of jubilation in the music. This is the kind of fun, guitar-driven music that is made for jumping around to, and in true punk fashion the band delivers the goods in just over two minutes only to leave you wanting more and yearning for the new album.
“That’s a song that came out super fast. I sat on the couch playing the chord progression and immediately singing, ‘Jenny’s got herself a friend and she wants to stay out late.’ Per Ole (Hilarie’s husband and bandmate) said, ‘Hey, I have a chorus that suits that.’ Five minutes later, we’re playing the entire song, with almost all the lyrics. Jenny isn’t a real person. I had heard of Jenny, but I never met her. She was known as somewhat of a legend around these parts. Everyone talks about what she did and acts as if they know her. The truth is, it’s hard to know Jenny, but I’d like to.” – Hilarie Sidney, The High Water Marks
LISTEN:
Proclaimer of Things, the latest album by The High Water Marks, is scheduled for release on Feb. 4th, 2022 on Minty Fresh.
