Mercedes Lander is best known as the drummer of long-running Canadian metal outfit Kittie, but with her current project, the White Swan, which formed in 2016, she's stepped out from behind the kit to sing and play guitar and keyboards as well as to drum. Sonically, the trio is a far cry from her more famous band's Ozzfest-honed attack, specializing in a gauzy, atmospheric brand of sludgy doomgaze that would be more at home on the stages of Roadburn.
The London, Ontario-based group — which also features guitarist Shane Jeffers (Bloodmoon Collective) and bassist Kira Longeuay — is gearing up to drop its fourth EP, Nocturnal Transmission, this fall, both digitally and on limited-edition vinyl, the latter via War Crime Recordings. (You can pre-order the EP now.) Today (August 20th), the White Swan have teamed with Revolver to unleash the record's opening track and lead single, "In Love and Ritual." Check out the crushing, lysergic love song above, along with its striking, black-and-white music video.
"'In Love and Ritual' is about finding the person that completes you and the journey of realizing how having that person in your life teaches us to become brand new," Lander tells us, "kind of like a rebirth of feeling and emotional connection. I really wanted to create space with this song, keeping the roller coaster of dynamics in the forefront with a touch of chaos running in the background. Having the lyrics and melody build with the music and really complement each other."
Nocturnal Transmission track listing:
1. In Love and Ritual
2. Nocturnal Transmission
3. Purple
4. Tell It to the Sky (Tracy Bonham cover)
