Bonnie Trash emerge from the shadows to declare love from beyond the grave, with an expanded lineup and a brand-new EP, ‘My Love Remains the Same’ – to be released September 13th via Hand Drawn Dracula. In preparation, the band have shared the video, directed by Sarafina, for single ‘Kisses Goodbye’
Bonnie Trash is the darkened shoegaze/post-punk drone project led by twin sisters Emmalia and Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor. If your high-school MP3 player featured tracks from Black Sabbath, PJ Harvey, doom metal legends Pentagram, or even shoegaze-y soft-rockers Slowdive, you’ll enjoy their unique flavour of rock. The recent addition of longtime friends Emma Howarth-Withers (bass) and Dana Bellamy (drums) gives the group a new lavish and layered sound, with this expanded lineup featured on the forthcoming EP.
‘My Love Remains the Same’ EP explores the impossibly heavy subject of love and loss.
“Even when the one you love is gone, your love for them never goes away. Memories do not fade, they become stronger. In silence, you feel their presence, and in the brightest of days, they are always there,” the band explains.
There’s a subtle softness to today’s single, ‘Kisses Goodbye’, yet the energy is fully commanding with a catchy riff chugging us through. As a four-piece, Bonnie Trash shows off their skill with tight percussion and a heavy bass line. Squealing electric guitar, distortion, and harsh noise give a rough edge to this shoegaze-y track, while Sarafina’s airy and intimate vocals show off the band’s impressive ability to genre-hop from heavy metal to soft rock and everything in between.
Speaking on the track, they say:
‘Kisses Goodbye’ reminds us to not be afraid to say farewell, to hold our loved ones close to our hearts, and to remember our most precious moments here in this life are the times we share with our loved ones. After all, my love remains the same.”
Check it out, here
Hailing from Guelph, Ontario, Bonnie Trash began as a two-piece act, with twin sisters Emmalia Bortolon-Vettor on guitar and lyricist Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor on vocals and drums. The twins are the primary composers and songwriters.
Together, they create soundtracks to the horror stories they want to tell, drawing inspiration from social commentary, the supernatural, and ancestral folklore. On their self-released 2017 EP ‘Ezzelini’s Dead’, the pair reimagined the myth of Ezzelino III da Romano, a 13th-century cannibalistic tyrant from their family’s hometown, San Zenone degli Ezzelini. Bonnie Trash used field recordings and interviews in Veneto dialect (spoken by their Nonna Maria and great-uncle, Cesare) to explore their Italian heritage, preserving history through music.
Their 2022 debut album ‘Malocchio’ and 2023’s EP, ‘Hail, Hale!’ confront the real-life horror stories told to them by their Italian grandmother. Over heavy, hypnotic riffs, pounding drums, and spooky soundscapes, the lyrics pull the listener into the meaning of the “evil eye,” a hex of malice onto another.
Both records were released via Canadian indie label Hand Drawn Dracula, the home of Bonnie Trash’s upcoming fall 2024 EP, ‘My Love Remains the Same’.
In addition to “Kisses Goodbye”, ‘My Love Remains The Same’ offers two further tracks. Emmalia’s impressive guitar playing especially stands out on “What Have You Become,” a heavy selection in which Sarafina’s lyrics explore themes of life beyond death and self-reflection. The EP’s final track sees Bonnie Trash return to their roots as a duo, with Sarafina and Emmalia putting their own dark, doom metal spin on the beloved Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds hit, “Red Right Hand.”
The full EP will be released this Friday, September 13th via Hand Drawn Dracula.
Pre-save it here.
‘My Love Remains the Same’ EP track list:
1. Kisses Goodbye
2. What Have You Become
3. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds cover)
Read our interview with the sisters here
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