We Are Ardent – Photo Credit Jennifer McCready Photography

We Are Ardent – ‘Low’

We Are Ardent - Photo Credit Jennifer McCready Photography
We Are Ardent – Photo Credit Jennifer McCready Photography

The new EP from Canadian Alt Rockers, We Are Ardent, came out on Friday. ‘Bright Shadows From Dark Lights’, features the new single, ‘Low’. 

Making alternative music in the broadest sense of the word, We Are Ardent mix lead-footed 90s grunge rock with South African polyrhythms. Offsetting their classic lineup of guitar bass and drums by including kalimba, the band also throws into the mix a dynamic shift between female and male lead singers.

Brothers Josh and Justin Brazeau, on guitar and drums respectively, began copying riffs from Nirvana and local hard-core acts in their hometown in Southern Ontario. Josh started dating Kat Kerley, and encouraging her obvious musical talents, enticed the introvert Kat to bring her completely left-field aesthetic into the band – which brought about exciting changes.

They played their first live show in August 2013, and completed their first EP, ‘Ardent’, later that month, and released in February the following year. We Are Ardent found a home on Canadian alternative radio, and broke through to East Coast College radio. With press comparisons to Garbage and Angelfish, We Are Ardent were nominated for the 2014 Niagara Music Awards, in the categories of Best New Group, Best Rock Group, and Best Original Song.

We Are Ardent have just released their new EP, ‘Bright Shadows From Dark Lights’. Adding bassist Matt Dalton, to the band, they found that their urgent and industrial sound was now tempered by emotive songs dealing with more personal issues.

“We have all suffered at points,” admits Kat, noting that the band members all bonded over being bullied early in life, which has had detrimental effects on their mental health. “We realised how music gave us a sense of community in those times of need and we hope to do the same…advocating for equality and respect for individuals.”

Listen to ‘Low’:

You can buy ‘Bright Shadows From Dark Lights’ from We Are Ardent’s Bandcamp page. Find them online on their website, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Instagram, and Youtube.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

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