Royal Mountain Records’ Cuffed Up Unveil Music Video For Grunge-Pop Single “Canaries”
Newly signed to Royal Mountain Records, LA-based Cuffed Up shared their new single “Canaries” earlier this month. Their first release with the label, the single follows their 2020 self-titled debut EP and stays true to their post-punk sound.
The band explains that ““Canaries'” is about going down a path that you know is wrong, yet you keep going because some form of shame is driving you. Sometimes, we become numb to the burdens we carry.” The bird chirps heard at the onset and close of the song are the most mellow part of the track – filled with grunge guitar and steady, building drums, the song has an intensity at its core. The duelling vocals highlight the conflict in the lyrics, bringing that shameful narrative to the forefront. “[The lyrics] ”Carrying the weight of stones / with pins to his bones” reflects that and the need to be vulnerable with yourself and not accept fate as is,” says the band.
The music video for “Canaries”- directed by the band’s own Sapphire Jewell and produced by Cuffed Up at large – shows the group performing, with layered imagery of the foursome and various canaries locked in cages. The imagery matches with the lyrics that call back to the old mining practice of using canaries in the tunnels to warn miners of poisonous gases – if the bird became ill, fainted or died, it was a clear sign to evacuate. The parallel seems to call out to the toxicity of shame and lies, all while becoming further entangled in the situation against warnings: “The canaries fainted a while ago / But still down down to the den she goes.”
Drawing from the UK post-punk scene and leaning into ‘90s indie rock and grunge, Cuffed Up have a versatile and expansive sound that brings to mind acts like July Talk and The Joy Formidable, the latter of whom they’re supporting on a US tour this fall.
