Mav Karlo is the solo project of Menno Versteeg, as well as the founder of Royal Mountain Records (Metz, Orville Peck, Wolf Parade, US Girls), today he has released the single/video, “Detonator.” The song follows previous single “Elevator.” About the track, Menno said: “Detonator is about that moment when you stop saying to yourself “I’m such a fuck up” and start asking “why am I such a fuck up?” It’s a long and a hard process, but an important one, and that’s reflected in the wordier than usual verses. I wanted the detail in the lyrics to act like dots in a pointillist painting, disparate images that when taken together convey a singular emotion.” “Detonator” is the latest track to be shared from Mav Karlo’s debut album, Strangers Like Us. The LP is out on October 16, via Royal Mountain Records.

“Detonator” was directed by Justin Singer, he continued: “I grew up in a small town in Ontario and it seemed like everyone drove a dirtbike or a skidoo or an ATV or all three. When the director suggested the video revolve around a daredevil dirt biker who experiences a tragic crash and the subsequent anguish of imagining how his life might have turned out, I thought it would make the perfect visual metaphor for the subject of the song. While we were filming, a Monarch butterfly landed on my finger and stayed there for fifteen minutes. I have always thought of seeing butterflies as little hello’s from loved ones who have passed away so, needless to say, singing this song to a Monarch gently flapping its wings in my hand was a surreal moment.”

His first full-length, Strangers Like Us closely documents an especially tough period in Versteeg’s life, and ultimately arrives at an undeniable courage in its commitment to truth-telling and unsparing self-examination. Produced by Chris Coady (Amen Dunes, Beach House, Future Islands) and recorded at two iconic studios (Sunset Sound in L.A. and Sonic Ranch in the Texas border town of Tornillo). Guest musicians Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls (on vocals), Charlie Spencer of Dizzy (keys, drums), and Versteeg’s Hollerado bandmate Nixon Boyd (guitar, bass).

Naming Tom Petty and John Prine among his inspirations, Versteeg first began creating as Mav Karlo last year in the midst of constant upheaval, equally driven by an urge to expand his horizons as a songwriter and a need for the raw catharsis of unfettered expression. An album elegantly steeped in memory. Versteeg says, “A lot of the record is about looking within and trying to find the source of your pain, trying to figure out why you behave the way you do, but by the end there’s a sense of starting to trust yourself. So even though there might still be self-doubt, it’s a confident kind of self-doubt—an understanding that everyone feels this way sometimes, and you’ve got to just keep pushing on.”

Mav Karlo
Strangers Like Us
tracklisting

1. Elevator
2. Dig A Hole
3. Detonator
4. Record High
5. Strangers Like Us
6. Nurses And Priests
7. Wirewalker
8. Treasures

Pre-order Strangers Like Us here