Departure & Arrival is aptly named.
It’s the newest EP from Langley’s own Indie-rock band called Derrival, and while the album is just arriving, the five boys are heading off on a Western Canada tour starting next week.
The new EP is set to be released Friday, Aug. 21, along with the premiere of their video for feature track Canvas on Exclaim.ca.
Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Adam Mah is the frontman for the group, Glen Jackson is lead guitarist, Shane Stephenson is on keyboard, Deven Azevedo plays bass guitar and Dan Kozlowski is on drums.
“We’ve been together nearly forever,” said Kozlowski, which means almost seven years.
Formed in 2009, the band was composed of five Langley high school students who merged their musical efforts to become Derrival.
These days most people don’t know whether they’re coming or going and that constant state of motion is how Derrival characterizes themselves, and is ultimately where the band name comes from.
And, as may be apparent, their new EP, Departure & Arrival, is a decompression of the group’s name.
The EP’s first single entitled Original Script debuted in 2014 and led the band to winning a highly coveted top prize in the BC PEAK Performance Project.
Their music is alternative indie rock, which blends older artists with newer sounds, and their lyrics link to local issues and personal experiences, Kozlowski previously explained to the Langley Advance.
Derrival claims to combine “synth-heavy” elements of bands like Phoenix and Chvrches with guitar driven hooks and melodies reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club and Young The Giant.
They’ve been on a steady upward trajectory for the past six-plus years, releasing fresh content regularly.
Derrival released Youth Captured, a six-song EP in 2013 and they’ve also released a music video that has more than 14,000 views on Youtube.
Since graduating high school, they have each pursued different post secondary studies to develop the skill sets of a record label for independently releasing their own music, making them more than just another band taking the DIY route.
In addition to releasing the EP this week, the boys are pretty psyched about the release of their video, Canvas, which Mah, the lead vocalist, said follows the exploits of a role reversal “Manzilla” set on destroying a city that ultimately gets saved by the band in the best way possible.
The video is a nod to the band’s love of the Power Rangers in their youth, he confessed.
“We all loved the Power Rangers when we were kids,” said Mah. “So, we’re basically living out a childhood fantasy with this video. How awesome is that?”
Their Western Canada tour kicks off in Kelowna on Aug. 29, and includes gigs in Red Deer, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary, Banff, and finally Vancouver on Sept. 25.
