“Love & Heartbreak is a more focused dark, electronic album that in some ways got [us] back to the roots of when we were getting started,” says Matthew Brue of Missio about the two piece’s new record, which is out July 3 via Nettwerk.
At its heart, Love & Heartbreak tackles the tricky theme of love and the loss of it — the feelings of exhilaration juxtaposing that of the despair. Inspired by a former relationship of Brue’s, he says, “Loving someone can be one of the greatest gifts that we can experience. It takes an immense amount of strength, surrender, and selflessness to open your heart to someone else,”
Within the same the breath, it leaves you exposed to the risk of heartache and continual heartbreak as Brue has realized while promoting the record. “I really didn’t take into account how moving on from a relationship would be difficult when the conversation is always in the mix…Being interviewed about it or promoting the record. It’s all just a constant blaring reminder of what that situation was,” he says, “But at the same time I also have to go outside of myself and remember that people resonate with our music, because it’s always based on real experiences that we have. I know that it’s gonna help other people who are going through heartbreak as well.”
Another inspiration for Brue during this album cycle was traveling as he recorded the majority of his vocals at random Airbnbs around the world. From living in and visiting Calgary to Mexico City and even Seattle, the singer found himself inspired by local culture and life. Meanwhile, David Butler, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the band, still calls Austin home.
“When it comes to creating our music, every single album has been somewhat of a different process,” Butler says, “With us working in different locations, the way this album came about was just a bunch of songwriting that we did individually. I feel like it led to some really cool stuff, which was us both individually being able to dig our teeth in deeper than we’ve ever been able to do. We were able to wait for the moment to be right, rather than having a time crunch that can sometimes happen when you’re in a studio.”
When asked if there’s anything he hopes listeners take from the record, Butler says the song “Superpower” encapsulates his desires for the world right now. “I think the biggest [superpower] is being the ability to open your mind. There’s this tendency right now in the world to just take sides and see one side. But a theme on this album is duality — love and then heartbreak. We just encourage people to think for themselves, open their minds, and realize it’s complicated; there are multiple sides to every situation…Things like that.”
Missio are planning to go on a few tours this year (with an EU/UK one already announced) so keep an eye on their socials for that U.S. tour announcement as well as other updates regarding the release Love & Heartbreak, which can be streamed/purchased wherever you get your music.
Love & Heartbreak is out Friday from Nettwerk and you can pre-save the album here. Follow Missio on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for future updates.
Photo Credit: Betsy Cimorelli
