Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks Release New Single “Suicidal Valentine”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks Release New Single “Suicidal Valentine”
Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks
Fri Dec 09, 2022
Cashbox Canada

On the precipice of the pandemic, Cliff Cardinal was in a toxic relationship with cocaine. While stuck at home with nothing much to do, his contemporary life became the subject of the latest release from Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks, “Suicidal Valentine.” Check it out on YouTube here:

 Cardinal wrote the song while attempting to manage his fraught situation, creating the song of his addiction as a toxic relationship. “I spent a lot of nights sleeping at the studio and resenting the world,” Cardinal explained. “Then COVID happened and offered freedom. The pandemic created an artificial cessation of drug abuse.”

In “Suicidal Valentine,” Clifford pours out his heart over guitar and drum beat that offer a fuzzy sound that matches the chaos of his mind at that stage of his life. The artist declares himself his lover’s sacrificial lamb through distorted vocals that display desperation.

“Oh touch me please
Only you can put me on my knees

Take me apart
Hurt me hurt me hurt me from the heart
Make it nice
Romance is fire and truth is ice ice ice
Say you’re mine and I’ll be your suicidal valentine”

This song serves as the title track of the Toronto-based band’s newest album, establishing a clear theme for the project, the work for which was started during the height of lockdowns.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/4LoquO7KdIDV6zs3zZ4lfa

 “I wrote the songs ‘Suicidal Valentine,’ ‘Yellowknife,’ and ‘Your Dress’ at home and started sending the parts to the Sky-Larks,” Cardinal said. “The Sky-Larks were, I guess, pretty bored. But we were getting in the habit of ‘jamming’ from home from some online concert events, so we started sending tracks to our bandmate and producer, Justin McWilliams.”

While this was happening, the band grew tighter even if distances weren’t always as close. All of that emotion and then some are expressed on this record, and “Suicidal Valentine” is a bellwether for the project’s tone.

Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks, which also includes drummer Patrick Ferrigan, consider themselves to be genre-free, unwilling to let the bounds of one musical lane contain them. Honed by a hilarious and nefarious style, the band produces protest songs, love ballads, and existential raps through an Indigenous lens. Substance abuse, self-loathing, dark themes, and plenty of catchy hooks are rife within their music. “Suicidal Valentine” is no exception.

Cardinal is doing better now than he was when “Suicidal Valentine” outlined his regular mental state. Thankfully, his reliance on drugs is well past the stage of toxicity. But for those who have experienced or are experiencing a similar struggle, his story will resonate.

http://cliffcardinalandtheskylarks.com

Reviews
Album
Cliff Cardinal & The Sky-Larks
Month: Nov 2023
Haneke Twins Swiss Band Haneke Twins Delivers Raw Emotion in 'Voices'…
Jackie Putnam Nova Scotia's Rising Country-Pop Star Jackie Putnam Unveils…
Jon Mullane Jon Mullane: The Feels Like Christmas Tour with Special Guest Alfie Zappacosta
Mike Herriott Jazz Trumpeter Mike Herriott Releases Second Single “Puss, in Boots”…
Mystery Romance Mystery Romance Release New Single “Crazy” from the CD Harmony & Discord
Doxas Brothers Canadian Jazz Quartet Doxas Brothers Release Their Sophomore Album…
Baby Molly Baby Molly Releases Debut Album "All The People You Could…
Baker and Cas Brooklyn Blues Duo Baker and Cas Channel the Spirit of Classic Rock…
Calvyn Cass Calvyn Cass Lights Up 2023 with Cinematic New Single 'Hollywood Calls'
Doug MacNaughton Toronto Singer-Songwriter Doug MacNaughton Releases Soaring “I Believe…
Eclectic Revival Folk Rockers Eclectic Revival Celebrates the Introvert Life with 'Boring…
Don Ross Revolutionizing Music for Guitarists and Songwriters: Join the FretboardGPS…
MELODNA MELODNA Takes a Soulful Journey into Her African Roots with Sophomore EP ‘She’…
Natalie Exora Natalie Exora's Spellbinding Single 'Perfect'…
The Brother Bicker Band Roots Rockers The Brother Bicker Band Roll in with 'Another Kind of Train'

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 109
  • Page 110
  • Page 111
  • Page 112
  • Current page 113
  • Page 114
  • Page 115
  • Page 116
  • Page 117
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers