Métis-lead reggae rock band Street Pharmacy are at it again with their first single of the year entitled Descolada. “I really had nothing much to do other than to read science fiction novels and write music,” said Ryan Guay. “The pandemic took the wind out of our sails in terms of touring.” Street Pharmacy was due to tour with American reggae rockers Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad throughout the Eastern seaboard, but those plans were cancelled due to COVID-19. Instead, the two groups merged together to collaborate on a single called They Don’t Give A $$$$ which received radio support in both Canada and the United States and over 22,000 streams on Spotify. Guay thought it would be a good idea to continue the formula of hard rock choruses and reggae rock verses on his next song.
Descolada, which means ‘unglued’ in Portuguese, is a term used to describe a deadly virus in the Orson Scott card novel Speaker for the Dead. The novel won the Nebula Prize in 1986, so Guay thought it would be a cool read. “Going along with the science fiction theme of our record, Delusional Discourse, I thought it would be interesting to write a song inspired by a fictional virus that tears apart the DNA of its unsuspecting victims. I also thought it would be interesting to personify this deadly virus by making it female. The ending of any toxic relationship can make it seem like your DNA and sense of self is splitting into pieces.” The Descolada virus wreaks havoc on the fictitious planet of Lusitania and most of its human inhabitants. “When I picked up the novel I didn’t expect it to be about a virus, nor did I expect to write a song about a fictional virus when we were dealing with a very real one on planet Earth.”
Descolada returns to Street Pharmacy’s classic formula of hard-hitting rock choruses, lightening fast lyrical flow—reminiscent of 90’s golden age hip-hop—in the verses and reggae inspired grooves that have not been heard in such a blatant fashion since the group’s 2007 release Free Delivery. “It’s no secret that I’m heavily influenced by guitar-driven alt-rock bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, and Weezer,” Guay explains. “I wanted to make sure that some shredding made an appearance in Descolada because the lyrical content is quite heavy.” This new single is of significant contrast to Street Pharmacy’s last two releases, Broken Ladders and Lyphehax, which were released for Christmas of 2020. Whether or not the world has taken a turn for better or worse since then is up for debate. Either way, Descolada takes the listener on a spooky journey augmented by irie vibes to which there is no cure.
Street Pharmacy’s Descolada is available everywhere music can be consumed. Fill your prescription on May 28th, 2021.
lyrics
Chorus
That Descolada,
She gunna find ya
She’ll leave you naked
Unglued and faceless
Woah that Descolada,
She gunna bind ya
She’ll cut you shapeless
Can’t stop the hatred
No Descolda!
Verse #1
Look now she’s coming your way/ she’s not a one-trick stay/ she’ll catch your feelings off guard and cut your heart out of place/ a call to eviscerate/ no way to un-desecrate/ once she’s running through your blood there ain’t a way to escape/ Now/you say “I know,” but NO you cannot relate/ confusion, haze, she’ll flip the phrase like how your numbered are days,
Pre-chorus
If you take one look/ you’ll be more than shook/ and you’ll never get out alive/ she’ll pull that bait and hook/ love that you mistook/ it’s so vile that’s it’s out of line/ Not snake-skinned crook, nor an open book/ She’s a word that you can’t define/ and when she’s in your nook/ from within you’ll cook/ and she’ll leave you there to die
Verse #2
Her look will freeze you in frame/ Medusa’s stone but engraved/ She’ll etch your cause of death and number, got no use for your name/ immortal sins that contain/ unconscious grins for her gain/ She’ll tear your inner world apart until you’re broken and maimed/ and there’s a downside to her sinister game/ you think she’s tame but then she splits you like some nuclear pain.
Quiet Chorus
That Descolda,
Don’t let her find ya
She’ll make you vacant
Soul sucked and brainless
(and it won't be painless)
Bridge
Here’s something you can’t ignore
She’ll take one down from sky to floor
With no discretion, no remorse
Don’t say I never warned you of these woes
credits
released May 28, 2021
Written & Produced by Ryan Guay
Recorded and Engineered by Will Crann at Catherine North Studio in Hamilton Ontario
Mixed by Mike Tompa and Ryan Guay
Mastered by Noah Mintz at The Lacquer Channel
Artwork and Design by Jake Donaldson
Press Photos by Mike Farkas & Jay Ash for G3 Designs + Photography
Street Pharmacy is a Welland, Ontario based hip-hop-reggae-rock outfit concocted by the musical mind of singer/songwriter
Ryan Guay. Street Pharmacy combines the honesty of 90s alternative rock, reggae grooves and lightening fast lyrical flow reminiscent of golden age hip hop. Fill your prescription today!...more
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