Silent Planet set out to conquer prejudices with new track "Orphan"

Silent Planet has teamed up with Alt Press to premiere the new music video for their track “Orphan.”

The single is taken off their upcoming album, Everything Was Sound. The metalcore band tackles complex issues with their lyrics. Vocalist Garrett Russell opened up about the meaning behind “Orphan,” saying the song examines prejudices between different cultures and how those prejudices are shaped. 

“'Orphan' explores the cultural chasm between the western and eastern world. In the recent political sphere, we've seen instance after instance of politicians framing our narrative of other cultures around the world—often painting other cultures and religions with one broad brush to lead us to unfounded conclusions,” says vocalist Garrett Russell. “Simultaneously, we see the same political tactics being used on the other side of the world—often fanning the flames of fanaticism and anti-West sentiment. 'Orphan' examines two men, caught between the poles of extremism and confusion at one another's culture. The video shows how perception of one another can so often distort reality—bringing us to the greatest illness of all: Fear. 

“I believe that we, as children, are born into this world—full of awe—and then are shaped by our culture into fearing what we don't understand. We wrote this song to examine our own prejudices, and hopefully tell the most basic, recurring human story of all: The tension between fear and love.”

Everything Was Sound was written as a concept piece, taking place within a Panopticon—a prison of deception. By definition, a Panopticon is a circular prison where prisoners can be viewed from a central well at all times. Further elaborating the concept, Russell said, “Every room in the prison is another person diagnosed with mental illness.” Some of them suffer from environmental trauma, such as PTSD, which Russell argues to be an internalization of the violent world we create.

“I’m trying to understand these stories throughout the songs—both challenging society’s stigmatization of mental illness while searching for hope amidst the inner-reality of suffering people.” To Russell, who holds a masters degree in clinical psychology (and revealed that he has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder) Everything Was Sound hits especially close to home.

The album is set to drop July 1 via Solid State with vinyl, CD and digital versions that can be preordered here.

Catch Silent Planet on Warped Tour on the following dates:

June 24 Dallas, TX                
June 25 San Antonio, TX    
June 26 Houston, TX            
June 27 New Orleans, LA              
June 29 Nashville, TN                      
June 30 Atlanta, GA              
July 1 St. Petersburg, FL      
July 2 Orlando, FL    
July 3 West Palm Beach, FL                                    
July 5 Charlotte, NC            
July 6 Virginia Beach, VA    
July 7 Syracuse, NY              
July 8 Camden, NJ                
July 9 Wantagh, NY              
July 10 Hartford, CT            
July 11 Scranton, PA
July 13 Mansfield, MA        
July 14 Darien Center, NY  
July 15 Pittsburgh, PA                    
July 16 Columbia, MD          
July 17 Holmdel, NJ