Polar: A New Chapter

“Writing an album in a pandemic was Hell on Earth,” Adam Woodford laughs. However, when the POLAR frontman describes in detail the online messages exchanged, the file sharing, and the agony of writing songs without being in the same room, resulting in the band not talking to each other for months, it is no laughing matter. However, it is a testament to the band’s dedication to music that they made the album. When we sit down with POLAR, the band tell us that it is rare that they do an interview all together. Alongside Adam, there is guitarist Fabian Lomas, drummer Noah See, and bassist Gav Thane.

Everywhere, Everything is officially the band’s fifth album, following on from 2019’s Nova. However, they don’t see it that way. “This feels like our first album, not so much the fifth,” Adam confesses. “It feels like a beginning. That’s not to the say the other albums are detached from this one. But we went into this [album] with a brand new lineup. It was Noah‘s first record with us. He’s been an old friend of mine for a long time. For him and Gav, it was nice to have those fresh perspectives.”

“I always feel that it’s the first step in the next phase,” Fabian adds. “I see the albums like a pair of albums, and the follow-up is us taking the sound of the previous album, and trimming the fat off.”

“Every album is sort of different from the last,” Gav says. “Although I don’t really see them as pairs.”

Whilst every album might sound different, Everywhere, Everything is the most ambitious album to date, inspired by “different music tastes”. Whilst there is the usual metalcore sound that people know and love, there are also songs inspired by RADIOHEAD and touring with bands such as SPIRITBOX. However, they were clever enough to release their most polarising song as a last single.

To those not familiar to POLAR‘s back catalogue, then Rush (featuring vocals from Ellie Price) might not sound that different to any other melodic metal song with a big sing-along chorus. But when you play it side-by-side with first single Dissolve Me – which is a fast-paced metal song – then it is clear that Everywhere, Everything is POLAR going into the great unknown.

“We knew that people would have picked up on the differences between the the songs. We released it last so that they would be reassured that the old POLAR were still there, but that we’d also continue to push the boundaries of what we are doing,” Adam explains. Thankfully, the fan reception has gone down extremely well. However, the song that has become popular with reviewers is the closing song, Baptism Of Fire. “It summarises the album,” Gav explains as to why they chose it to end the album. Fabian describes it as being like the closing credits.

One of the most eye-catching song titles on the album is Snakes Of Eden, with Noah describing it as one of Adam‘s ‘fuck you’ songs. “We were learning on how to adapt to a new way of life,” Adam elaborates. He explains that the song was written during lockdown, and explained that the beauty of being in a band is that he could write a song about how he felt at the time.

On the other hand, Gods And Heathens “was a really annoying one to put together,” Noah explains. “It does have a fun chorus, and I always picture a festival vibe.”

“Lyrically, it is about abuse of power,” Adam adds, explaining that it was a “stomping big anthem, which is a stronger side to the band.”

“It’s encased in metaphors, which is the vibe of the album,” Noah elaborates, as he and Adam worked on it together. “It’s the realisation that you don’t have to take any more abuse of power.”

The original plan for Everywhere, Everything was to come back from supporting SPIRITBOX on tour and write the album in six months. However, when COVID-19 hit, the world went into lockdown, causing the band to have to work on the album remotely. That six months soon turned into two-and-a-half years. “We sidelined our own personal mental health for this album. We couldn’t go to our studio in Wales,” Adam explains. Whilst POLAR are based in Guilford, they had booked a studio in Wales. Unfortunately, they had to wait until it was safe enough for a lot of people to be in one room together. “By far, it is our best work, but it was at a price,” Adam states.

“Time was a big thing. Communication-wise, we might not get back right away, whereas if we were in a room together, it would be sorted out in seconds,” Gav adds. Noah agrees. “I prefer the songs that were written together as they were more organic. However, it is also hard to get people’s tone over text. But we’ve learnt a lot moving forward. We work best when two or three of us work together on one thing.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, as it strengthened the bond of the band. “It is a true testament to what we went through. We all lived in a big nine-bedroom Air BnB in the dirtiest part of Cardiff and lived and breathed the album when we were tracking the album’s vocals,” Adam smiles.

POLAR are one of the best examples of holding on when times are tough. Whilst they admit that it could have easily been another ending to the story, they made it work. This is a new beginning for POLAR. 2023 is their year, and with the release of Everywhere, Everything, they are only getting started.

Everywhere, Everything is out now via Arising Empire.

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