Harnessing the joyful energy and uplifting sounds of Jamaican rocksteady and old school ska, today California quartet The Calamatix announce their debut self-titled album due for release this Fall on September 20th via Hellcat Records. Paying homage to classic sounds with a contemporary spin, the band previews the record with lead single ‘Love, Lies & Alibis’ where the brashness of punk collides beautifully with slinky, up-tempo Jamaican ska rhythms.
Vocalist Raylin Joy says, “Basically, the song is about the good the bad, the ugly and sad. Working through relationships and friendships even when you’re going through it. We all just have to keep going through the love, lies and alibis of life.”
Written by Joy with Tim Armstrong (Op Ivy, Rancid), Lil Aaron (Machine Gun Kelly, Demi Lovato, Lizzo) and Albert Hype (Bad Bunny, Kali Uchis), check out the song below!
‘Love, Lies & Alibis’
Backed by lifetime musicians Adam Porris (guitar), William “Matty” Taylor (bass) and Clarence “Pocket” Kidd III (drums), the heart of The Calamatix’s sound is lead singer-songwriter, Raylin Joy. Born in Ventura, California, Joy grew up in Scotland and moved back to the US when she was 23. Packing a lifetime of experiences into her short stint on Earth, it’s her writing and the life lessons that inform it, that propels The Calamatix’s universally relatable, triumphant songs about love and life.
Originally a songwriting collaboration between herself and Tim Armstrong, amidst their creative chemistry was a tinge of melancholy as Raylin worked through some personal struggles and inner demons. Finding solace through the music, the contrast between the optimistic spirit of these songs and the struggle that produced them gives this collection a real power and weight.
“When this record first came into existence years ago, I was going through one of the hardest periods of my life.” Joy explains. “I was really struggling with depression and I didn’t have a lot to live for, honestly, at the time. I was really, really struggling. Then I would go in the studio and we’d write a song and I’d just be on the biggest high. So, for a long time, this record was one of the main things keeping me going.”
Recorded over the course of about two or three days in a whirlwind string of sessions, the band’s chemistry throughout these performances is palpable. At the helm of Armstrong and producer Albert Hype, the studio provided a place of escape where each musician found the freedom to pour their emotions into something tangible. Funneling the darkness and depression into music that is bright and uplifting, what results is unfiltered and pure. Raylin Joy sums up the album and the process of its creation simply and powerfully:
“At the end of the day, som e of the best things are born out of terrible situations. We had all of this adversity and we turned it into something really beautiful.”
The Calamatix Tracklisting
- Love, Lies & Alibis
- Believe It or Not
- Still Rudy
- Rootstyle
- Book of Love
- Dread
- Boom Bap
- Lady
- Enjoy This Life
- Phone Call
- Before It Stops
- Tupelo Honey
For More Info On The Calamatix:
