We’re all broken in our own unique manners. It’s the way those cracks line up where connection, empathy, and healing can happen. Preyrs have concocted a deeply personal record that threads that needle masterfully, resulting in a listen that should connect with anyone on the road to improvement – or at the very least, survival. Lofty emotional heft could be meaningless without a stellar soundtrack, and The Wounded Healer works because the band’s individuality is so stark. Combining grunge, psych rock, art rock, and stadium electronica, the resulting Pelagic debut is the kind of record that is progressive but sounds propulsive and expansive. Prog for the vox populi and not just those of us who nerd out over time signatures. Fans of The Cranberries, Sonic Youth, and mid-career Nine Inch Nails especially should be all over this. So how did Preyrs craft something so inspirational?
“It’s [about] seeking meaning and purpose,” vocalist Amy Montgomery says, “in the self and in humanity by courageously holding up a mirror and seeing the likeness too between the individual and collective. The presence of the archetype of the wounded healer (or physician) made itself very known during the songwriting process. The realization that your deepest wounds will be the source of your potential is frightening and comforting all the same. Although Jungian psychology is present, I feel it is a must to acknowledge that this knowledge and process of the archetype was known long before by the First Nations around the world.”
“The act of writing this was a deeply moving experience for me,” she adds. “I underwent an extremely transformative and mirror-to-self experience when writing this album. Seeing my own wounds so minutely through reflection and writing was both frightening and extremely comforting. To be honest, along with the obvious meaning of the songs, that is the point. To use music, reflection and surrender within writing and expressing move through a process of understanding the Self, another or the world on a deeper level. We hope this album also encourages justice, awareness, and transformation too in search of truth and healing.”
The Wounded Healer is out Friday on Pelagic Records and you can preorder it here. Follow Preyrs on Instagram for future updates.
Photo Credit: David Cleland
