Last autumn saw the Vancouver-based alt-rock band Mother Mother enjoy an unexpected and unprecedented surge on TikTok. Songs from their back catalogue exploded on the platform, quickly accumulating a staggering 325 million uses of #MotherMother as well as 1.6 million fans. Their reputation expanded beyond TikTok, and they now command 7 million monthly listeners at Spotify alone. Rolling Stone subsequently noted, “Music business executives told Mother Mother to fit in a box when the band started out more than a decade ago. In 2020, they finally don’t have to.”
After forging a new global fanbase, the band today return with two new singles in the shape of ‘I Got Love’ and ‘Stay Behind’. This marks their official debut for their new label Warner Music Canada, who will release their music simultaneously with leading international partners including Parlophone (UK) and Warner Records (US).
The songs illuminate two sides of the acclaimed alternative stalwarts. An unrelenting beat gives way to an infectious guitar line, and gang chants fuel the instantly hummable, yet hard-hitting ‘I Got Love’ where male and female vocals collide. At the other end of the spectrum, ‘Stay Behind’ projects emotionally charged vocals over a plaintive acoustic guitar and ambient synths. Music videos for both tracks will follow shortly.
The two songs were produced by frontman Ryan Guldemond and Howard Redekopp, who helmed their 2007 debut ‘Touch Up’ and the 2008 fan favourite ‘O My Heart’, which feature many of the catalogue tracks their new audience are connecting with today. Mother Mother’s rise on TikTok demonstrated how these D.I.Y. outliers continue to subvert expectations, blur genre lines, and stretch the boundaries of how “alternative” may be defined in 2021.
“Finding these new fans, or them finding us rather, feels like a very generous and surreal gift from the universe,” says Ryan. “It’s always been about the joy of music, and sharing in this joy with others, so we are thrilled to be releasing new music, especially ‘I Got Love’ to new and old fans alike. This song is about the frequency of love, and less in the romantic sense, but more in terms of unification and interconnection, working as a guiding light in dark times. If people simply enjoy this song, we are so happy and grateful, and if they find any healing in it, slight or profound, we’re utterly ecstatic and deeply humbled.”
Fronted by songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Ryan Guldemond, Mother Mother also feature his sister Molly Guldemond (vocals, keyboards, and who also handles the band’s design and creative direction), plus Jasmin Parkin (vocals, keyboards), Ali Siadat (drums) and Mike Young (bass, multi-instrumentalist).
Mother Mother have experienced a whirlwind decade, amassing over 830 million streams and views, earning 14 million monthly listeners at digital platforms and 2 million searches at Shazam. A highlight of their unique and organic development at TikTok saw their 10-year-song ‘Hayloft’ become the most searched for lyrics in the US and the second most searched for lyrics in the world. That rise elevated them to several recent appearances on Billboard’s Top 10 Emerging Artists chart.
In the band’s homeland of Canada, they have had numerous Top 10 Alternative Radio hits, spent several weeks at #1, and have been the most played alternative artist at radio for multiple years running. The band have also found success on the road. Their most recent pre-pandemic tours featured numerous sold-out headline dates including New York, London, Los Angeles and all across Canada and the US.
