Track By Tracks: Ruled By Raptors - Ouroboros (2019)

1. Braggart:

We feel this is a natural EP opener, giving a good first impression of the band, it has a dancey, punchy melody, but also gets across the riffy post-hardcore influences as well. It’s been a popular one with audiences. It originated from someone I knew going through a break up and going back out trying to meet people, eventually it evolved into being about those people who love themselves, all dolled up, men and women, looking to be center of attention when I thought it would be a fun twist to think about what if two “players” tried to play each other. Check out the video for the track, here - https://youtu.be/3zmZDUdo760

2. Promises:

Promises was a natural follow up due to its opening tempo and the way it begins, and Braggart ends, and the way its end segues nicely into Dux. The song was written during the run-up to the 2015 general election and is a commentary on political campaigns and the way politicians portray themselves to garner votes; how they will tailor their campaign to what they think the voters want to hear and not what they really want to deliver on.

3. Dux:

The lyrics to Dux were written shortly after Trump came into office in 2016, I was exploring more paranoid and conspiratorial themes like the Illuminati at the time and had been doing a lot of reading, so it was on my mind. The song revolves around how the rich always try to get richer and chase power. If Trump hadn’t been rich or on TV screens for the previous few decades, I doubt he would have been voted in without having been involved in politics prior to then. So really, to me, it was an abuse of that power he’d accumulated from daddy. Naturally the song focuses on how with power comes a paranoia and fear of losing it; America is a democracy that theoretically it shouldn’t happen due to their safeguards, but we’ve seen it many times over the years in other countries and we’re seeing it now with Putin and Xi Jinping, where they consolidate power.

4. Time:

Time was not intended for Ruled By Raptors originally. I was going through a writer’s block at that point and wasn’t happy with anything I was coming out with. It was a stressful time for me balancing the studios and a young family and everything I wrote was folky and just not suitable. I was walking near where I grew up and played as a kid. I’d known for a while they were building a new estate, it was only when I saw it, that I realized they’d practically levelled everywhere that I used to play; including this old tree that I used to climb. Ultimately the song is about how I’d gotten older, how things had changed and reflected on what achievements I had. I guess I was in a very vulnerable place and the song reflects that. I ended up videoing it and putting it up on my facebook wall and it got quite a bit of attention; the band saw it and they felt we could do something to make it our own. It was acoustic-based, which is why we chose it as the ender, but Matt suggested speeding it up and fleshing it out in the middle section. After that, it ended up a far catchier and poppier song than I’d ever expected it to be. Watch the video, here - https://youtu.be/F0exsydqa6Q “