Rews: Turning Pain Into Positivity

Coming off the back of their 2017 Pyro debut success, Northern Irish rockers REWS look forward to another triumph as the evade the sophomore slump with their 2020 Warriors, a phenomenal alt/pop-rock anthem that twists the narrative of pain from succumbing to the sadness and instead promotes finding self-love and strength within yourself during times of despair. With 2020 feeling like the pitfall for humanity, any approach of positivity to these harrowing times is always welcome. Their latest offering balances catchy, gritter rock hooks with some pop sensibility to offer a fun, ecstatic but also deeply personal open letter of very real experiences that many of us go through. Vocalist and songwriter Shauna Tohill sat down with us to discuss everything about the new album.

Warriors explores the infectious alt-rock/pop-rock sound established in their debut album but leaning into those catchier rock-centric hooks with a more subtle overarching pop mix, it’s rougher around the edges and something to sink your teeth into. Tohill attributes her influences behind this second LP to a handful of places, BIFFY CLYRO and BRING ME THE HORIZON being some notable names. “The time when I was writing I made a playlist on Spotify, it was sort of just revolving around really good songs that I’ve grown up listening to. BIFFY CLYRO‘s first couple of albums, for example, then since BRING ME THE HORIZON released their latest album that’s when I became introduced to them a little bit more and I actually started to listen back over their repertoire. I love some of their heavier stuff, it’s amazing. But I also really love their new stuff they’re coming out with, generally, I really love the hooky melodies.”

The powerhouse of this album is in the context and themes, with the lyrical counterpart acting as an open window into Tohill‘s vulnerability. She delves into the meaning behind the album, explaining that each track lays out its own story and builds into a wider theme of rising from the pain, finding positivity in everything, and becoming your own warrior. Tohill flips the narrative on heartbreak and general despair or self-pity by always finding the positive in these hard times. She mentions in particular that Love Hate Song is “if you’ve ever had a love-hate relationship with someone where they’re constantly giving you negative vibes all the time, but like if it was a ‘you’re so vain’ type of song,” she explains. “like ‘I bet you think this is about you’ or I don’t even want them to know this song is about them.”

She also commented on Bad Girl, saying that she just woke up with the chorus in her head at 6am “and I was like ‘Oooooh I love this!’ So I put the voice note into my iPhone, it was just one of those moments of inspiration,” delving into the meaning behind it, she goes on to say that it’s not about “any one person in particular but it’s about someone who you absolutely love to bit but they’re also a bit of a bad egg and sort of a bad bitch.”

As mentioned, this album follows up as the second addition to their discography. Tohill mentioned that a lot of people always talk about that difficult second album, but in her case, she didn’t cave to the dreaded second album slump and was “very inspired” to write this album. “I actually feel like some of the songs on there are a development of my songwriting,” she says. “So I hope that the songs are slightly better than what they were on the first album. It didn’t really enter my head too much because I just think that everything, in life generally, is always evolving. You sort of have to take it as it comes and not put too much pressure on yourself.”

For musicians like Tohill, writing such openly raw tracks is something that comes almost naturally. Delving into personal themes that speak sometimes from her own experiences can be emotionally demanding, and taking criticism as a musician isn’t always easy. The songwriter explained that taking negative hate towards her work is still something she’s trying to resolve within herself. “I would be lying if I said it didn’t knock my confidence but you have to come back and be like ‘okay, it’s just someone’s opinion’,” she says. “I think a lot of musicians struggle with that kind of thing. Because you are sort of wearing your heart on your sleeve for everybody to criticise and I think it’s something that I’ve tried to work on a lot more as I’m a sensitive person. But I also find that now as I’ve got older I realise that not everyone is going to like it, and now I’m more writing it because this is just how I feel or this is how I perceive this situation in the hopes that it gives people inspiration. I don’t really take criticism personally because, in my heart, I like the song and if someone else doesn’t like it then that’s fine.”

How have you been coping with the lockdown – I can’t imagine it’s been easy to record and market an album in these conditions?

Shauna: Yeah, I think whenever the lockdown was first announced I was in the middle of the tour actually. So when that was cancelled definitely had a bit of a freakout moment, so I was like “oh no, what am I going to do?” I also wanted to make sure that I could keep in touch with my fans and make sure that everybody had something to keep them focused and positive during the time. I spent a long time brainstorming ideas of what I could do on social media. I’ve actually got to know my fans a lot better and bond with them more.

The album cover is very beautiful, it seems to be a collage everything. Now you mention the fact that all the songs are stories, it makes sense that the album has all these features. Could you explain how you approached the album art?

Shauna: It was basically exactly as you say. I was working with Marshall Records, they brought in Jay from Marshall Amps who is a graphic designer there, we discussed it and he was just messing around with some ideas of things that he heard through the songs as well. I was really keen to have something that really represented positivity and the journey through the album ad something that actually means something. There were a few different variations but this was the most prominent one, it felt the strongest. The phoenix represents Birdsong.

Lastly, I wanted to reflect on your first album. When you look back to three years ago, is there anything you’d change in hindsight?

Shauna: I think so, I try not to look back in the past and regret things. I look back at that album and I’m proud of the stuff we were able to achieve but I think it was a stepping stone for where I was meant to go.

Warriors is out now via Marshall Records.

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