Singled Out: Linebeck's Give Us A Try

09-06-2023

Once described as a "dreamy version of Linkin Park," Hamilton, ON's Linebeck recently released a new single called "Give Us A Try". To celebrate we asked lead vocalist Chrys Teo to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

I was driving home very late after a Valentine's Day gig in Port Dover and the car was dead quiet as the rest of the band was asleep. I didn't want to turn on the radio and disturb them, so to keep myself awake, I started singing some counter melodies to the love songs we had played that night. I stumbled across the melody that would later become the verses of "Give Us A Try".

In the next couple of days, I went on to shape the rest of the song's structure, but nothing came to mind lyrically. Since this song was so heavily tied to Valentine's Day, I started to think about my friends and their love lives. Funny enough, I had not one, but two sets of friends in the awkward "in-between" phase - the kind of people who say they're "just friends" but everyone knows they would be so great together. The theme of "just friends" or the "friend zone" also reminded me of one of my favourite teen romance movies, John Hughes' "Pretty in Pink". For this release, our band has drawn so much inspiration from this film, including our album art and using prom themes in our lyric video.

I struggle a lot with lyrics, so I like to find a single theme or a phrase that will help to shape the whole song. For the longest time, I had forgotten where "Give Us A Try" came from. I recently remembered that I focused strongly on the word "us" because of a scene in (500) Days of Summer. In the film, Tom creates a Valentine's Day card that reads "I Love Us" - which is simultaneously so dumb and endearing. I guess from there, I spun "Give It A Try" into "Give Us A Try".

One of my favourite lyrics comes in the second verse. I think it fully describes the emotional roller coaster of being too afraid to express your feelings at the risk of losing your friendship. The lyrics read: "I've never been into video games, if you wanted to play I would not say no, just to spend more time here. These minutes, just a souvenir I have wasted 'cause I'm afraid of losing you".

Oftentimes, people say they can't tell if this song is sad or cute. Whenever I sing these lyrics, I can't help but feel the same way.

Of all the songs we have written as a band, "Give Us A Try" is one that has a spot very high on my trophy cabinet. I believe it encapsulates everything great about our band. Not only is the basic structure and melody really fun and catchy, but everyone else in the group brought their A-game when we started putting all the pieces together. From Raph's bouncy bassline in the verses, to Momo's wavey guitar, to Eric's funky drum grooves - I think we created something that sounds truly unique and truly Linebeck. We took the time to iron out all our parts in pre-production, but we wouldn't have been able to achieve this sound without our great friend and producer, Will Crann at Catherine North Studios.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the band here