Basement Revolver - Heavy Eyes (2018) Lossless

Heavy Eyes is the debut album from Canadian indie-rock trio Basement Revolver. There’s an air of weariness pervading the album, with the sleepy title Heavy Eyes summing up a general exhaustion right down to the bone, as well as hinting at a heavier direction as they deftly merge 90s infused indie rock with fuzzy dreamy pop and poignant, yearning lyrics. Unable to disguise the emotion in her voice, songwriter Chrisy Hurn shares intimate stories and personal wounds from her past, revealing a deeply affecting and rewarding set of songs.

Bringing together the talents of Chrisy Hurn (vocals, guitar), Nimal Agalawatte (bass, synth) and Brandon Munro (drums), the band hail from Hamilton, Ontario and were named Basement Revolver due to Chrisy’s basement apartment, rather than any trigger happy leanings. Their ascent to the spotlight has been a steady trajectory, capitalising on the success of their debut single “Johnny” in 2016. The track garnered endorsements from DIY Magazine and Exclaim! as well as respected tastemakers Gold Flake Paint, who hailed it a “‘favourite song of the year” contender. They had stumbled across a sound that is capable of stripping listeners of inhibition, yet heavy hitting enough to leave a lasting impression.

On the back of “Johnny”, they were signed by Memphis Industries’ UK sub-label Fear Of Missing Out, who released their debut self-titled EP in 2016 with “Johnny” and their second single “Words” reaching the higher echelon of the Hype Machine chart and the EP flagged up in several end of year lists. They followed this up with the Agatha EP in 2017 where the single “Bread & Wine” reached the B-list on Radio BBC 6 Music and also garnered support from John Kennedy at Radio X. The band have racked up over one million plays on Spotify across the two EPs.

To record their debut full-length, the band returned to local studio TAPE (Memoryhouse, Dirty Nil, Edgar Breau), where they had recorded their first two EPs. They had build up a solid relationship with producers Adam Bentley and Jordan Mitchell, as they continued to hone their signature sound. In this comfortable environment, they found the freedom to get heavier for some songs and more laid-back for others. As Chrisy explains; “It also gave me the confidence as a writer to not take myself so seriously, to let myself get cheesy or goofy with some songs.”