Gary Lightbody, frontman for U.K. rock band Snow Patrol, took the time to chat with Alan Cross prior to the band’s shows at the Rogers Centre on Aug. 30 and 31.
Alan Cross sat down to chat with him about his various writing projects, what family means to him and the whereabouts of Snow Patrol during the last half-decade.
It’s been seven years since the northern Irish rockers released an album — 2011 to be exact — with Fallen Empires. Last May marked the release of their seventh and latest studio release, Wildness.
Lightbody described the emotional impact and reasoning behind this album. He claimed that his family crest had a lot to do with it.
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“Clarior e tenebris” (his family motto) loosely translates to “brighter after the darkness,” which comes through in the lyrical content and overall vibe. The album deals a lot with how he was feeling at the time, as he dealt with alcoholism.
He shared his “clarity” after two years of sobriety and the exact whereabouts of Snow Patrol over the last little while; Lightbody said it was because he wasn’t confident in his material.
“I knew that what I was writing wasn’t good enough… I wasn’t going to stop until I got it right.”
The result was this year’s critically-acclaimed album.
Snow Patrol celebrates their 25th anniversary in 2019 and it’s clear that they still mean the world to Lightbody and the rest of the boys. They are “the great love of my life,” he said.
The band are currently finishing their U.S. run with Ed Sheeran and plan to tour the Wildness record until Christmas next year.
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