June Body has a new EP on the way, and lead singer/guitarist Connor James says it’s some of the heaviest music the alt-rockers have put out so far.
Off the back of their 2024 full-length album Last Everythings, James and his bandmates, bassist Alexander Callaghan and drummer Matthew Schofield, decided to take a different approach on 7678, dropping on Friday, May 1.
“It’s juxtapositional in a lot of ways,” says James in an interview with The Coast. “There’s a lot of tender, kinder, twinkly moments on Last Everythings, and the songs on the new EP are blasting in your face.”
Not only audibly, but emotionally. Last Everythings is primarily a break-up album, with songs weaving together a story of a couple who are realizing that their relationship needs to come to an end; yet, within that narrative is a semblance of nostalgia for what once was and hope for the future, a positivity that sonically and lyrically contrasts the album’s darker moments.
The emotional weight of 7678 is different, and that’s made apparent by the two singles June Body has released from this new project: “Alarms” and “Red Sun”.
“We were really feeling the impact of the songs as we were writing and rehearsing them,” explains James. “There’s just something tangibly impactful about them. Even as a performer, you know. Like, on ‘Alarms’, it’s such an explosive intro, and you get these really cathartic moments of the song, and as performers, we’re feeling that as well.”
The lyrics of “Alarms” are self-deprecatory. It’s the speaker realizing that he’s in his own way of happiness, becoming “the very thing I’m dying of.” A storm blocking a sunset, as James says in the song. The music video, directed by Joey Chapman, features a slovenly James at a beach at night, smoking cigarettes in a recliner submerged under the waves.
It makes for a resonant reckoning of a song, but it was a bit hellish in the moment of filming.
“It was reeking like cigarettes,” says James of the recliner they hauled to the beach for the video. “We get to the beach, we’re tossing around in the water or whatever, and then we’re like, oh my God, we got to transport this thing back to Halifax, but now it’s a sopping wet cigarette recliner.”
Their second single for the album, “Red Sun”, was a little less hectic when it came to shooting the music video, directed by Malcolm McMaster. It features an ingenious use of shadows and silhouettes, all made through connecting a camera to a projector James had in his living room.
“What he was shooting was then being recycled through the projector onto the screen behind me, so that’s why you get those sort of long, extended, infinite stretches of light behind me, because the camera is shooting itself, shooting itself, shooting itself indefinitely,” he explains.
It’s a perfect fit for the low-tempo track that’s similarly darkly introspective, with a chorus that soars over its own grit, conveying a distinct sense of beauty. However, it wasn’t always meant to be this way, as James explains.
“It was an entirely different song, and I think what we released is potentially one of the best songs that we’ve ever put out, but the form that it was in prior to rewriting it was maybe one of our worst songs.
“It was a totally different energy,” he continues. “We were right about to go into the studio to track the new EP, with ‘Red Sun’ in that previous, awful form.”
The studio time was postponed for a few months due to extenuating circumstances. During that time, James completely reworked the song. He lowered the tempo, turning it from a song that he called “bossy and stupid” to a track that thrives in its own moodiness, perfectly aligning with the lyrics and, from what James says, the EP as a whole.
“I’m glad we found it. It was just floating around in the universe, and then eventually it came to me,” he says. “It pays to take some time with songs and, you know, not get attached to them in a form that you’re not satisfied with.”
The whole EP was tracked live off the floor to a 16-track Tascam tape machine thanks to engineer Franc Lopes at Ocean Floor Recording. It was mixed by Gordon Huntley (Leaving Laurel) and mastered by Noah Mintz.
Recording live without a metronome can be tiring, especially since everyone has to be as in focus as possible to get what they consider to be a perfect take. For James, it’s worth it for the unique sound—especially when it’s analogue.
“We want the recordings to reflect what it’s like to be in the room with us while we’re playing,” says James. “So that’s why it was really important for us to track live off the floor to tape. You can really hear when a recording is tracked to a metronome, and there’s this fluidity and natural flavour that comes from hearing a band play live off the floor.
“You want to just salvage your sounds, your tone, and then really tighten up with the band and just perform it together. It’s a really satisfying way to record an album.”
With a passionate set of songs and cleverly directed music videos, the artistry only continues when it comes to June Body’s album art for 7678. Jameelah Rahey, a friend of James, had designed a diorama for Last Everything‘s album art, and she once again displays her unique photographic talents in the artwork for their new EP: a house with red-hot, sun-shaped flames bursting from the windows, with the house number “7678” on the front.
When asked about the title of the EP, all James would say is that it’s a mystery—one that listeners can try to figure out when 7678 releases on Friday, May 1. June Body will be celebrating the release with a show at Stillwell Brewing Co. on Kempt Road featuring SALT LAMP and Elora’s Garden. Doors open 8:30pm with a $10 cover.
