Knocked Loose surprise EP
[Photo by Perri Leigh]

Knocked Loose surprise-drop 'A Tear in the Fabric of Life' EP and film

Knocked Loose are back with a powerfully abrasive new approach to their music. The A Tear In The Fabric Of Life EP is safely their most ambitious project to date.

In addition, Knocked Loose also dropped an accompanying animated short film of the same name. The feature brings the EP’s narrative to life, track by track, illustrating the uninhibited emotion within the lyrics.

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Written by Knocked Loose frontman/lyricist Bryan Garris, A Tear In The Fabric Of Life highlights the different stages of grief and the lengths that a person will go to in order to break free from it. The story follows this emotional theme through the eyes of the main character, who’s involved in a car crash at night that takes the life of his partner. From this, we descend alongside the main character into a spiral of depression and guilt.

Garris elaborates on the process in writing this narrative. “This is the first time we really dove in and tried to create something sonically that evokes a different range of emotions and overall something that introduces tension and anxiety with a massive payoff,” he says.

Although the story originally began as fictional, it soon turned into something much more meaningful and cathartic for Garris.

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“I found ways to incorporate real feelings of loss and mourning, as well as anger and self-doubt. I’ve always been a very personal writer, and this was originally a step away from that into something more artistic,” Garris says. “But in the end, it was just as therapeutic as writing a regular Knocked Loose record, and I think you’ll be able to hear that.”

The accompanying short film for A Tear In The Fabric Of Life is just as powerful. Directed and animated by Magnus Jonsson, the eerie, black-and-white visual covers all six tracks from the EP. The film is also divided into chapters, in accordance with each track.

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“I took the story presented in the songs and anchored that into a visual world,” Jonsson explains. “I wanted to create an intense nightmare, focusing on the emotional states of Bryan’s main character [and] visuals that bring the audience deeper into this story of a spiraling descent into horror and destructive madness.”

The result is a ghostly and evocative atmosphere that complements both the EP’s instrumentals and Garris’ vocals.

A Tear In The Fabric Of Life tracklist:

1. “Where Light Divides The Holler”
2. “God Knows”
3. “Forced To Stay”
4. “Contorted In The Faille”
5. “Return To Passion”
6. “Permanent”

Watch the animated short film below!