Darcys Miracle

A lot has changed since we last heard from Toronto art-rock band the Darcys. Three years ago, they released their third album, Warring, to high acclaim, earning all sorts of radio play, a Juno nomination for Alternative Album of the Year and a spot on the Polaris Music Prize’s longlist. A year later they followed the album up with a coda called “Hymn for a Missing Girl,” a 22-minute-long instrumental that, at the time, seemed like a cool way to close the book on Warring. But the track proved to be so much more than that—it ended up closing the book on the version of the Darcys fans had known since 2007. In an article drummer, Wes Marskell wrote for the Huffington Post titled “What Our Band Must Sacrifice To Survive,” he revealed that members Mike le Riche and Dave Hurlow had quit the band, leaving Marskell and Jason Couse as a duo. Along with the downsizing, the band would also reinvent their sound as a way to try and achieve the commercial success that had eluded them for seven years. Marskell referenced Tegan & Sara’s 2013 album Heartthrob as inspiration for their plot to break out of the indie world and find a place in the mainstream.

“Miracle” is Darcys’ comeback single, and as they promised, it’s a complete 180. Gone is the epic, guitar-led rock, and in its place, some slick studio pop that is primed for mass consumption. Says Marskell, “We knew we wanted the record to sound modern, pop-minded and sun-bleached, and once we managed to assemble our production team I was confident we were going to have one of the best sounding records coming out of Toronto. Noisey asked Marskell about why they abandoned art-rock for pop, how they achieved it, as well as the premiere for new single “Miracle.”