Daniel Romano is from Welland, Ontario, a town Wikipedia says was an industrial center before several companies up and left around the time of the Great Recession. The anthemic folk of “(Gone Is) All But A Quarry Of Stone” seems composed in the ashes of a broken place—in a loping, buzzy voice, Romano sings “No masters no more in the world we implore/ The state of our age shall be thrown to the shore/ If not for the colours that glow ‘neath the sun/ No beauty for anyone.” And as the singer-songwriter wanders around a seemingly abandoned factory in the song's video, it's hard not to keep the impact economic collapse can have on communities like Welland in the back of your mind.
Via email, Romano framed the song and video as a harbinger of things to come, and mentioned that the version of the song in the video is the “premix;” the real thing hits iTunes tomorrow, but you can stream it on Soundcloud now. His new album Mosey is out May 27 via New West Records.
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This is a song of our struggle. This is a song for a confused and lost generation. This is to pay homage to what we've lost and to remember it for what it was; breath and real life. This is a warning. This is the future speaking to us now and saying "the wind is building mountains of the rubble in your streets, tomorrow they rise.” This is the premix. Tomorrow, the real thing. Dance.
