After a much lauded release of 2022s Spectre, the Californian hardcore quinte Stick To Your Guns are back with yet another ferocious new record, Keep Planting Flowers. Accompanying this huge announcement comes the record’s firest single, “Severed Forever”, a massively energetic anthem with soaring melodic choruses and a monster breakdown, whose Adam VillaSeñor-directed music video you can watch below this article. On the record, vocalist Jesse Barnett comments, “Keep Planting Flowers is a collection of songs that exist to spite the nihilistic narrative that plagues our minds and societies. One that says things are just the way that they are and that regardless of the burning rage or depthless depression that this fills us with, there is simply nothing we can do about it. I militantly reject such a joyless outlook on the one life that I get the honor of living. A new world needs a new you, so no matter how bad things get, keep planting flowers.”
Regarding the single and music video, Barnett continues, “In an industry where there is only one true artist for every 250 entrepreneurs, this song is a dedication to the ‘artists and musicians’ who are nothing more than lackeys or the errand boys of their keepers. I have severed myself completely from the superficial competitive market mentality of ‘fuck thy neighbor’ to one that aligns more with the yearning of my spirit. I’m not going to pretend lines haven’t been drawn. I chose my side and I have found purpose in who and what I fight for.”
Keep Planting Flowers will be released on January 10th via SharpTone Records. Pre-orders will be available here starting October 8th.
Photo credit: Sarai Kelley
