Dilly Dally Share the Abrasive Vibrations of New Single “Sober Motel”

Shortly after the release of their debut album Sore (2015), Paste spotlit Dilly Dally among the Best of What’s Next. However, the rigorous album cycle of that record almost brought the Canadian band to a premature end. Their forthcoming sophomore album Heaven rises to a place of optimism from this turmoil. Heaven is due out Sept. 14, and Dilly Dally have released a second track from the record in anticipation.

“Sober Motel” follows opening track “I Feel Free” and turns the glamorized lifestyle of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” on its head, championing instead sobriety in an industry that often glorifies the opposite. Singer/guitarist Katie Monks says there was purity to her writing experience for this song, which she wrote in a motel bathroom after taking a “mystical” shower. The story is rooted in Dilly Dally’s bassist Jimmy Tony’s struggle with addiction.

Monks explains:

In a larger sense, alcohol is so romanticized within our culture. Knowing that it can send so many people into a downward spiral, I wanted to step forward and do the opposite of that, and present people with a different image. All of this in the hopes that it would create a sort of protective layer around the band each night on stage (and anyone else who feels the same).

Dilly Dally refused to be burned out, and Monks’ smoldering vocals on “Sober Motel” prove just that. Her rasping yell keeps the song’s raw force pushing at the listener. “When I’m sober my soul comes screeching,” Monks sings. Scraping forward, the track could easily slip into darker thoughts, but the sludgy atmosphere is shot through with hope—the band is taking the rose-colored glasses off addiction and letting the cry for sobriety illuminate.

You can preorder Heaven here. Dilly Dally will be heading out on tour this fall with California punk band FIDLAR.