You've seen it a million times before – some band puts out a single that doesn't sound like their previous material and the fanbase loses their collective minds. Maybe the single actually sucks, maybe it rules and everyone is just being close-minded. All we know for sure is that Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante thinks the whole idea of judging a band's overall career on one single that diverts from the usual path is ridiculous.
In an interview with Kerrang!, LaPlante said she feels metal has become so obsessed with every single being a mission statement from a band that it's detrimental to the enjoyment of the music. Though she notes that some of the problem is also on the messaging and marketing from the bands.
"I feel like our sub-genre of metal is so obsessed with the idea that any song you hear from a band is a mission statement, as in, 'This is now what this band sounds like,' Maybe it's like this in every genre and I just don't see it as much, but when Doja Cat puts a song out, and she's singing, [the fans] don't go, 'She's never going to rap again!' We always have to tell people that when you hear a song, that doesn't mean it was created in a linear vacuum, where a band made a song and then they put out only that song. You might hear a song that was written two years after the next song you hear. You don't know when they came into existence.
"The messaging is always funny there, and I feel like bands never message that right either. Every time they put out boring music, they're like, 'Oh, we've matured.' I'm like, 'No, I'm not mature or grown-up, I just wrote a song that's more radio-friendly. I also wrote an ass-beater song – you just haven't heard it yet!'"
Oh, and yes – there's new Spiritbox coming. As LaPlante notes at the very end of the interview, "I think that everyone will be pleasantly surprised this year."
