Photo by Nick Prezioso
Introduction by Caitlyn McGonigal, Editor-in-Chief
Words by Cherie Amour
The long-awaited debut LP from Baltimore-based quartet Cherie Amour is finally upon us. Following 2021’s Internal Discussions, the next installment into Cherie’s discography — Spiritual Ascension (released 11/4 via Equal Vision Records) — finds the band stepping into a section of the scene reserved just for them. Effortlessly combining punchy pop punk with influences from the hip-hop scene, Spiritual Ascension is Cherie Amour at their best.
In order to unpack exactly what each entry into Spiritual Ascension’s tracklist means to them, Cherie Amour takes us track-by-track to break down each song and their place on the record.
Spiritual Ascension feels like it picks up where Internal Discussions left off. Since the release of our first EP, we’ve all gone through huge life changes — not only musically, but in our personal lives too. We’ve grown a lot as people and as musicians and we really felt that while writing this record.
We dive deeper into our heavier side as well as our R&B and hip-hop side. When you listen to this record, we hope it brings you peace in mind that we’re all trying to find our place in this world, and no matter what you’re going through you will always have the people around you.
Track One: “Welcome”
This intro asks a bunch of existential questions that have been racking my mind pretty frequently for the last year or so. At some points throughout the album, the lyrics reference spiritual concepts from a few different religions, which is a reflection of me still trying to answer those existential questions. The intro takes vocal pieces from every track on the album and mixes them up into one chaotic episode.
Track Two: “On Deck”
This song lyrically is super old. I actually started writing this one during one of my classes when I was in graduate school and we were still going by OLTL (One Life To Lead).
At the time, so many people were saying “so and so artist is up next” and I just wanted to put a spin on “up next” to say “nah, we’re on deck.” I love baseball so it was a reference to that. We also wanted a song on the album that
was inspired by traditional hardcore in a way so it’s high tempo and short run time.”
Track Three: “Sin City”
“Sin City” is a song about my move from Baltimore to Las Vegas at the end of the summer of 2021. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect since I had never been to Vegas prior to me moving, so in the first verse I imagined one big date night out on the Las Vegas Strip. I wrote most of the lyrics about four days before I left and started to think to myself: “am I being pushed from Maryland or pulled to Las Vegas?”
I wrote the song as a manifestation of what I wanted my life to become. I had to leave all of the familiarities — and in some cases, people — behind that I felt were clouding my vision of who I am and my ability to realize my full potential.
Track Four: “Low N Lean”
I wrote this song about rekindling a relationship with someone I hadn’t seen in a while that I had feelings for, but was never actually in an exclusive relationship with. We always enjoyed each other’s company but could never get on the same page about timing or level of commitment.
The French rapping, chanting thing in the bridge was something I added on last-minute in the studio and had Alan (Day, of Four Year Strong) pitch up to make my voice sound like a woman’s just because I thought it would be cool. It translates as “I would like to amuse you and give you a gift, but you didn’t know that it would be this song.”
Track Five: “Letting Go”
This was one of the first demos we did that I knew had to be on the album. When Ronnie (Sherman, drums) and I were living together in Baltimore last year, he actually made the initial beat on Ableton and played it for me later that night while we were out on the balcony chiefing, and I immediately got to writing.
It was that point in the pandemic when I was getting really tired of not being able to go out dancing, so I wrote the lyrics from the perspective of being inside one of my favorite bars in Baltimore called The Charles. Me and one of my best friends would go there almost weekly.
Track Six: “Mind’s Eye”
This song is lyrically pretty straightforward. I just wanted to write something that was a little braggadocios to counter some of the deprecating thoughts I had swirling in my head at the time about lacking talent or not feeling good about my appearance.
I used to date this person that would say just about anything hurtful they could think of during arguments and I started to internalize some of that, but at the end of the day I thought “you keep coming back to me though, so there’s something about me you can’t let go.”
Track Seven: “Love’s Not Your Thing”
This is another one we pulled from the OLTL era of demos, and it’s actually the track that helped us pick a new band name.
It’s about finding someone you like and getting to know them over the course of a few dates, but you realize they’re the type of person that likes to keep up drama in a relationship — otherwise they classify it as “boring”.
I really liked the use of “c’est la vie” here because it feels like a verbal shrug, accepting that this person’s thrills won’t change. Sometimes in life, it just is what it is.
Track Eight: “God Be a Woman”
This song was really interesting for me because I wrote all the lyrics at the studio. We already had a demo version of the song — mostly Casey (Reid, guitar)’s brainchild — but I wasn’t really feeling what I had done before, so I scrapped it and started this one.
It’s mad personal for me in the way that I had been taking some mental health self-assessments at the time and I was somewhat troubled about the results I was getting. I had been wondering if I had some sort of chemical imbalance that was making me feel a certain way, which is reflected in the verses.
There’s also a spiritual angle to the song that was influenced by my interest in African and Asian religions, like Ifá and Shintoism.
Track Nine: “Spiritual Ascension”
Lyrically, this song takes the same theme somewhat as “God Be a Woman”, but I think it’s a little darker still.
I think the first demo version was actually recorded in Ronnie’s room in the rowhouse we were living in. I was just going through another bout with depression and wondering if I would always struggle with it.
I am a very spiritual person and I pray pretty frequently — usually for others — but this was a moment where I felt so desperate for a reversal in my emotions that I prayed just for me.
My mood can be easily affected by the weather so I tried to convey that through the idea of “unrelenting rain.”
Track Ten: “Losing Control”
Most of the lyrics I write are rooted in reality, but this was one rooted in imagination.
I hate to admit it but sometimes I find myself daydreaming I’m some cool guy in a super famous band, simultaneously detesting and reveling in the trappings of fame. The idea that people could be so fake to pretend that they like you isn’t great, but when put into the context of feeling like a rockstar, it isn’t so bad.
The lyrics on this track are also different from the others because they were mostly freestyled, whereas I usually take a lot of time to think about what I’m saying. At first I wasn’t really comfortable with having this one move forward for that reason, but the guys all seemed to dig it.
Coming from Baltimore where club music is still a pretty big thing, we wanted to have a banger for the club scene.
Track Eleven: “In My Head”
These lyrics are extremely vulnerable for me, and it was pretty hard for me to write and perform this in front of everyone.
Alan had been messing with some samples and takes from other demos then remixed them into this track, and I just started humming melodies before finding the words to say.
It goes back to me feeling pretty concerned about whether or not my brain functions as it should and if my feelings are a byproduct of something in my head that I can’t control.
You can stream Spiritual Ascension below, and can click here to listen on other platforms and order a copy of the record.
Cherie Amour will be on tour with In Her Own Words, Capstan, and Shallow Pools for a month-long run of shows across North America. You can click here to grab tickets to a show near you.
