For Major Murphy, the best life lessons come in retrospect.
The Grand Rapids, Michigan trio of Jacob Bullard (vocals, guitar), Jacki Warren (bass, vocals), and Chad Houseman (guitar, keys, drums, percussion) learns from past struggles and finds a way forward on Fallout.
“I think that was a conscious goal or intention of mine to create something realistic but wasn’t wallowing in despair,” said Bullard about the band’s new indie-rock album released via Winspear.
“There’s a quote in ‘The Water’ from the Tao Te Ching, and it says, ‘Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.’ I read that when I couldn’t see a way out, and it was a difficult time and I didn’t know what to do.”
As part of that introspection, Major Murphy discovers a renewed sense of purpose and seeks clarity for the future.
“Thinking about that softness also being something that could dissolve rock was an idea for me that I found incredibly empowering in the sense that you don’t always need to meet resistance with more resistance,” Bullard said. “Sometimes you have to soften and flow.”
On Fallout, Bullard and his bandmates process change, uncertainty, and growth across eight reflective tracks. The album’s philosophical lyrics, soaring harmonies, and emotive instrumentation provide a cathartic and impactful listening experience.
“The album came together organically from a writing perspective, but at a certain point, those themes became evident to me as well. There are more songs than what ended up on this album, and I curated the selection to be super cohesive,” Bullard said.
“It’s a bit more stylized from a lyrical perspective, and it’s less prose and more poetry from my vantage point. I thought of the music, too, as being more contemporary compared to stuff we’ve done in the past. I wanted the lyrics to be more minimal.”
To learn more about Fallout, I spoke to Bullard about the album’s thematic elements and creative process.
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