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Calgary Herald

'It's a weird place to be': Mt. Joy on the rise even if if feels like their country is 'in decay'

Article content Hope We Have Fun was three years in the making and showcases a variety of tones and genres, from the charging post-punk of Coyote to the furious Scared I'm Going to F–k You Up, which rings in at just over a minute. Nathaniel Rateliffe harmonizes with Quinn on the gentle, whistling-filled Wild and Rotten. She Wants to Go Dancing flirts with synth-roc,k and Groove in Gotham is silky and funky soul-pop. Country singer-songwriter Maren Morris joins Quinn for the folk-rock duet Highway Queen. Article content One of the standout tracks, Lucy, is based on a true story. The band was backstage after playing a triumphant, sold-out show at Madison Square Garden a few years back, and they heard news that a friend of the band had been diagnosed with multiple brain tumours. Article content 'The prognosis was uncertain,' Quinn says. 'There was even uncertainty as to whether it would be something worth treating. It was crushing for us and sad to hear. As time went on, I kept thinking about it. I felt inspired by the idea that there are so many people out there who are dealing with circumstances like that, where life isn't promised to them in the way that most of us have it, or feel like we have it. There was resilience there but also a real opportunity to face real fear. I'm a person who struggles with anxiety. We can manufacture fear but it isn't nearly as real as something like that. I was just inspired by what it would be like to face something like that and the grace that some people have during that difficult time.' Article content Article content It fits into larger themes of resilience, grief, loss and living fearlessly that the album embraces, although Quinn admits the band didn't set out with particular themes in mind. Over three years, they just emerged. Article content Quinn says the songs can't help but reflect the reality of the band spending nearly a decade together and much of that time on tour away from home. Article content 'I think sometimes when I'm writing a song, it will have a feeling of being written on the road or about being on the road,' he says. 'We have this unique experience. So I think, inevitably, you will end up writing about that. But my hope is that when you step back from it, it relates to people because, at the end of the day, if you boil down what we're doin,g we're just … I mean we love what we're selling … but we're travelling salesmen. I think so many people can relate to that in some way. I feel it would be hard to write about anything else. Anyone who travels for work or leaves their house a lot can attest that it's all-encompassing. It becomes your life, it's intense and I think it's the easiest thing for me to write about.'