Mappe Of – “A Scourge Laid Upon The Earth”
Americana Highways brings you this video premiere of Mappe Of’s song “A Scourge Laid Upon The Earth” from his forthcoming album Afterglades, which is set to release on September 19 via Paper Bag Records. The album was co-produced and co-engineered by Tom Meikle and Will Crann, mixed by Will with additional mixing by Tom, and it was mastered by Kristian Montano. The photo here was taken by Vanessa Heins.
Musicians on “A Scourge Laid Upon The Earth” are Tom Meikle on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synths, sampling, field recording manipulation, and programming; Dermott Shepard on piano; Devon Savas on bass; Joshua Van Tassel on synths; Zach Cockburn on drums and percussion.
We had a brief chat with Tom Meikle about the song. The premiere appears just beneath the interview.
Americana Highways: “A Scourge Laid Upon The Earth” closes Afterglades with a powerful emotional and sonic climax. How did you approach writing a ‘final act’ for the album’s narrative arc, and what made this the right song to end the story?
Tom Meikle: I’ve wanted to make something like this for a long time. I feel like I was holding back a lot of this energy over the course of writing the record, because I wanted to make sure I had found the more intimate moments first, but had the idea of this song in my head more or less since the conception of the record. I knew I wanted it to go to this chaotic, angry place. I tried a few times to capture that energy and couldn’t quite get there emotionally. This was where the stakes should be at their highest, like the world was being swallowed up. It started as just a big wall of guitars that I sort of carved away at, then I made a bunch of glitchy drums and chopped them up, and finally the Joni Mitchell-inspired reflective middle bit came and made it into something with a bit more shape and dynamic. Lyrically it’s one of the most minimal on the record, there’s more of a post-rock influence to this one, but it’s trying to capture the despair at the point of no return, where the fate of the Earth is terminal and there’s nothing left to be done but reflect and scream into the void about what should have been.
AH: You’ve described Afterglades as a meditation on humanity’s impact on the natural world and the emotional weight of collapse. What inspired you to explore these themes through the lens of sci-fi and folk music?
TM: It’s obvious when you look at the current cultural zeitgeist and reflect on the entertainment that’s been created over the past decade or so, a lot of people are feeling and thinking this way about the world. Post-apocalyptic themes are permeating a lot of what we make. There’s a lot of despair and defeatism, with good reason. That said, though it might be hard to believe based on the subject matter and perspective being explored on this record, I’m an optimist at my core. This is just my way of exploring these ideas so I don’t spiral into hopelessness. I do hope that you can feel a glimmer of hope through this record. I haven’t lost my faith in humanity. I don’t think it does us much good to lose it.
I’ve always found it more appealing and safer to write through the veil and aesthetic of world building. I tried to balance that out this time around with some more personal stories woven into the record within this broader context. I wanted the sci-fi aesthetic to be a backdrop to a more rustic, intimate narrative. Sci-fi has become alarmingly prescient and provides this really unique perspective that I found useful trying to excavate my feelings on the state of the world. I’ve always loved fantasy and sci-fi, and the last record I made was a dive headfirst into fantasy/prog, so it felt like a natural progression to explore the sci-fi/electronic realm.
AH: The live performance video for “Scourge” was filmed in a converted century-old church. How did that setting shape the energy and atmosphere of the performance, and why was it important to present the song in that way?
TM: The video was filmed in Catherine North Studios in Hamilton, where most of the record was made as well. It’s co-owned by Will Crann, who co-produced and engineered the record, as well as this live session. Catherine is a really special place for me and our musical community. It’s one of my favourite places on earth.
When it came to deciding where to do a live session for this track, the studio felt like an obvious choice. There is an element of questioning faith in the lyrics of the song, and I think belting those lyrics in an old converted church felt symbolic in some way. It’s a special space and it lent itself so beautifully to the expansiveness of the track. The lighting and aesthetic that the video crew Black Lake crafted enhanced that energy so well. The band absolutely crushed it, I’m so fortunate to have that crew playing with me. I’m really proud to be putting this performance out there.
Thanks very much for chatting with us, Tom. This song poses a warning and a deep question: “Step back from the gate / Don’t you know that God is what you make it? / Step back from the gate.” Opening with distortions that probe your mind, this song draws you in to really think.
This video was directed by Cameron Veitch (Director/DOP) with additional camera by Tyler Teal.
You can find the music here: https://ffm.to/mappeof_scourge and more information here: https://mappeof.netlify.app/