Canadian pop rock band Marianas Trench’s new single, “Down to You,” released Friday, chronicling another chapter of their version of The Hero’s Journey.
Their upcoming sixth album Haven, set to release Aug. 30, takes heavy inspiration from Joseph Campbell’s legendary book.
The song’s instrumentation does a great job of capturing the symphonic rock elements the band has woven into their discography since their breakthrough album Masterpiece Theatre and packaging it into a more compact piece. Compared to past Marianas Trench songs that leaned more orchestral like “Ever After” and “Echoes of You,” which would often last for 5-6 minutes, “Down to You” only clocks in at about 2 minutes.
In terms of the individual parts, the strings waste no time coming in, soon joined by Mike Ayley’s vibrant bass playing and Matt Webb’s flanged guitar. But it’s Ian Casselman’s drumming that has always fit in the best with the band’s more orchestral side, and this song is no exception.
Lyrically, “Down to You” aligns with the part of The Hero’s Journey where the protagonist meets their mentor and begins their training; it could readily serve as the soundtrack for a superhero training montage. Frontman Josh Ramsay’s knack for writing pop hooks also comes in handy here, as the writing here is expressive enough to work just as well for a more universal narrative. Listeners can easily make this song out to be a love song or a friendship anthem, but that doesn’t take away from the original intention’s staying power.
Overall, “Down to You” signals that, contradictory to the title of their previous single, Marianas Trench is only getting better at combining traditional pop music with their signature brand of complex arrangement.
