BLUES PILLS unveil a third single from “Birthday”

On the surface the third single from Blues Pills forthcoming new album “Birthday” might seem like a straightforward love ballad, but guitarist Zack Anderson from Blues Pills explains that “Top Of The Sky” is actually about going anywhere and doing anything to seek attention on the internet” he continues “I was inspired by this documentary about an influencer in China who climbs buildings. He climbed a skyscraper and fell and died while streaming. It made me reflect on the age we live in where people are chasing attention and likes on social media, being willing to climb so high to try to find connection and approval online.”

Wu Yongning, who called himself ‘China’s First Rooftopper’ lost his grip and plunged 62 storeys to his death in 2017. His death is only one in huge list of social media related deaths and highlighted the growing “cash for clips” trend.

“We’re all trapped in that modern prison of social media, most people are affected by it, this attention seeking, wanting likes, when someone dies doing it, it puts it all into perspective”, states Zack “I am an advocate for digital detoxing, but it becomes hypocritical because we must use social media to push the band out there. But I do think it’s creating a mental health epidemic. If I look at my own life, I feel more stressed the more I use my phone. It almost feels to me like when cigarettes were new, and they said there were no side effects. We still don’t know what the long-term effects of intense social media use on mental health are. At the same time, I don’t think it’s all negative, but this extreme use, people are dying for likes.”

“I know they say don’t look down cause / There’s only one way out / I’ll just be holding on until my arms give out”, sings Blues Pills singer Elin Larsson on the new single “Top Of The Sky” “It’s not a ballad to hate on technology, but it was that story that inspired the lyrics, it was one of those moments that made me stop and think about that what we’re doing.”

Photo: Dana Trippe