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Forty Feet Tall Unravels Rage-Fueled, Political Single "We Can't Go Back To Normal”


JANUARY 20, 2022 (PORTLAND, OR) – "This is our most blatantly political, angry song we've made,” says Portland-based indie rockers FORTY FEET TALL about their rage-fueled new single, "We Can't Go Back To Normal." “Cole [Gann, lead singer/guitar] wrote the lyrics pretty freshly off of protests and it talks about very specific events that happened in Portland, as well as much broader problems that everyone experienced and continues to experience.“ The track is another taste of what's to come from the band following their previous explosive single "Sleepwalking," with both tracks stemming from their new EP Tunnel Vision, (out Spring 2023 via Magnetic Moon). Both songs share hefty themes that explore the anxiety and angst that has built up from the polarized political climate coupled with the pandemic. Following up their previous EP BOIL and their 2021 debut A Good Distraction, Forty Feet Tall brings their aggressive and frustrating emotions to the surface and releases it cathartically with a more genre-bending experimental take.


As a band that's comfortable with putting important subjects in the spotlight, Forty Feet Tall shed emotional vulnerability on the real-life traumas that we are impacted by on "We Can't Go Back To Normal." "We fell into this mantra, ‘we can’t go back to normal’, which seemed to synthesize it all into a sentence. Whatever so many of us considered ‘normal’ was brutality," adds Forty Feet Tall.


For Tunnel Vision, Forty Feet Tall takes a dive into exploratory waters while maintaining their familiar roots, "This EP is a little more experimental and shows a slightly softer side than the previous one,” explains the band. “We really tried to explore different avenues and get weird. Pitching down Jack’s voice or having a huge outro at the end were things that felt really good and natural even though we hadn’t really messed around with stuff like that before.”

Starting out further down the Pacific Coast in SoCal, Forty Feet Tall began with a childhood friendship between Los Angeles natives Cole Gann (lead singer/guitar) and Jack Sehres(guitar). They started out playing a benefit to save the rainforest, but by graduation had built a following big enough to play on stages including the Troubadour, Roxy, and the Whiskey. College took Jack to San Francisco and Cole to Portland, but the band continued to perform even as they focused on their studies. Forty Feet Tall then released their self-titled album in 2014, followed a few years later by the Red Dressed EP. Bass player Brett Marquette came aboard in 2017; later adding drummer Ian Kelley which solidified the band. Forty Feet Tall's hard-edged, expansive sound drew attention from television and movie music supervisors. Having songs featured in Showtime’s Shameless, several MTV spots, in the Paramount feature Drunk Wedding, and even an Arnold Schwarzenegger flick (Killing Gunther).


Forty Feet Tall’s "We Can't Go Back To Normal" was produced by Cameron Spies(Radiation City, Night Heron). Their upcoming EP Tunnel Vision is coming out in early Spring, via Magnetic Moon. The new single "We Can't Go Back To Normal" is out now. The band is available for interviews.

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