Today, we are thoroughly proud to present to you the official track-by-track breakdown of In Urgency’s Painting Parallels, penned by vocalists and guitarists Chris Anderson and Sam Mountain. As always, each track is embedded for the betterment of your listening and reading experience. Enjoy!

“The Holy Ghost”

Chris: This song tackles the internal struggle faced by most at some point in their lives between faith and logic. Faith isn’t fact and that’s what makes keeping faith so difficult. There are too many holes to be filled in order to make the logical person a believer of such, but then again, that’s why it’s called “faith.” Writing “The Holy Ghost” was a personal decision to put any belief system aside and concentrate on nurturing the body and soul as one, leading myself on a path of discovering what I believe on my own- me.

“All You Need”

Chris:  Being honest with yourself and taking responsibility for being a “poisonous centerpiece” to those you surround yourself with is difficult. Even more difficult is realizing [that] you’re doing it. So often do many go their whole lives without doing so and it’s toxic to maintaining any sort of positive relationship with anyone. “All You Need” is about taking a step back, putting yourself in check, and doing your best to move forward as a better person.

“Angel”

Sam: This song comes from the feeling of disappointment and hopelessness when something as big and as serious as a relationship or something as small as a crush doesn’t work out because the person you were putting on such a high pedestal ends up failing to be what you thought. People have a wy of drawing you in with the best versions of themselves, only to reveal the truth when you’ve already falled face-first into their spell. There’s a line in the song that describes the aftermath: “Believe me, I’m still here in a state of hope and fear.” Everyone is searching and hoping to find that one person that is right for them, but there’s always the fear that they won’t or that people will continue to not live up to expectations. You just have to stay positive and not give up.

“What’s Left Of Me”

Chris: If you’ve ever watched the slow decline of someone you love dearly, it’s a truly devastating and heart-wrenching process to witness unfold. The self-medicating, the alienation from people who care about you, the self-sabotaging… The depression, the anger, the despair. It’s hard to navigate how to- if at all- help fill that void. “What’s Left Of Me” is about giving eveything you have to see this person through their own war, no matter what.

“Dear Lovely”

Chris: “Dear Lovely” comes from the standpoint of writing a letter to a person very close to my heart. Unfortunately, it’s not a very nice letter. However, it’s a very honest one. The message is fairly simple: “Before I can ever truly love anything, I have to fix whatever is that’s broken inside of me.” A long history of depression can often lead one to lethargy and apathy, creating the endless accusations of “not having any emotions/feelings” which, if you’ve ever been in a relationship, is not conducive to maintaining a copacetic environment. Knowing that person deserves so much more emotional reciropcation and literay not being able to give that back creates a huge looming cloud of self-doubt. It’s a really vicious circle.

“Mile High Road”

Chris: This was my favorite song to write for the record. It came so effortlessly, which is rarely the case with writing music.  I’m assuming it’s because reflecting on the small town I grew up in and the experiences that made me who I am hold an extremely special place in my heart.  There was (and still is) such a specific culture that came with living there. There’s a mindset that really only people from back home can understand and if you are from Beaumont/Cherry Valley, then “Mile High Road” (a very real place) most definitely holds some of your most definitive memories.

“Bridges”

Sam: This song comes from the classic struggle to fit in and find your place when you’ve been bullied. Sometimes you reach a point where you feel the need to lower yourself to that person’s level just to survive around them. It’s the worst scenario of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” In the end it’s really about overcoming that feeling and staying true to yourself.

“Eye Of the Storm”

Sam: The chorus of this song came the feeling you get when someone refuses to own up to any of their own mistakes and places all blame elsewhere or just brushes everything under the rug in hopes whatever it is will go away because they don’t have the nerve to face it. Ultimately this type of behavior can result in pushing away the ones you need most.

Chris: This song started when Sam brought a chorus to the band. My first impression was that it sounded angry and vengeful.  After he worked with a co-writer of ours (Nikola) and brought back a finished piece of music it was handed over to me to finish out the remainder of lyrics. I really just fed off what I got from the chorus and made the verses emulate someone ‘being on the attack’ as I like to put it.  Although it holds no personal vendetta toward anyone in particular (at least for me, Sam might feel differently), I feel like the message gets across quite clearly that someone’s getting put in their place.

“Secrets”

Chris: This song came from watching what a lifetime of mental abuse and neglect have done to a person.  Self-esteem issues, no sense of self-worth, broken spirit, a skewed life-compass… It’s unfair and it’s heartbreaking.  Although broken, this song is to serve as a reminder to this person that they’ve always got someone who loves and sees them for what they really are: perfect in my eyes.

“Painting Parallels”

Chris: Follow your heart always, no matter the consequences.