Glasgow punk band PAWS are releasing their latest album, the Mark Hoppus-produced No Grace on June 17. Today they're sharing with us the record's second single "N/A," a heartfelt plea for everyone to acknowledge we're all in this crazy world together. We're all here reaping hell on earth, PAWS's Phil Taylor sings. In an email to The FADER, Taylor explained exactly what he means by Be what you want to be/ Don’t be scared of being seen.
I wrote the lyrics to "N/A" hoping for them to play out as a sister track to "No Grace." Both tracks are, to me, representative of how it feels to play in a band roughing it almost all of the time. Some of the lyrics in "N/A" are about the people coming out to our shows and my hoping that they feel as welcome and comfortable as possible. We want everyone to feel like we are in it together for those 45 minutes or so. Another side to the song's lyrics are from my perspective of feeling like we are pouring our hearts out every night to try and find common ground with everyone sharing the space with us at a show.
I want us to smash down the barrier of social ineptness. Have everyone look out for one another at shows and feel safe enough to be themselves, let loose.
There's some unrest in there too. With my self confidence. I find it hard to believe in myself when we play shows the majority of the time. It's hard to find a day on tour when I don't feel so shattered with nerves and self destructive as a result.
Listen to "N/A" below, and preorder No Grace here.