Charlottetown’s Ultrasvede are continuing in their series of singles from the recently released self-titled album, the latest of which is “Fever,” a dark toe-tapping groove reminiscent of Talking Heads and Tears for Fears. They’ve dragged new wave over the coals of the last two decades to create an over-the-top but undeniably danceable sound.
Ultrasvede explain that “Fever” came about after what that transpired during a recent trip to Trinidad where the band participated in a Club One New Releases event: the band performed and then was paired with another band with whom they wrote and performed an original piece.
“Down there we were sort of forced onto a big stage with cameras rolling and people all stressed out, waiting on you to shit out a golden nugget. When I got back home, I sat down and tried to make the smoothest golden nugget for that format, and ‘Fever’ was result,” explains Ultrasvede’s Andre-U.
“We were paired with another band, so there were nine of us onstage. We had five hours rehearsal time allotted to hammer out the tune, which is totally doable. The only thing was the other band did not come prepared. They did not learn the song, they had nothing. On top of that, they were very difficult to work with, like they didn’t want to learn the song. I was getting worried, the producer was getting worried, it was a bit of a gong show. However, it did end up coming together and it actually turned out pretty great!
“There were some brutal moments. I seriously wish we had the process on camera. We actually ended up changing the lyrics and song title to ‘Fever/Prince’ for the show because the other band didn’t like my lyrics. The literal theme of ‘Fever’ is about a seductress and they wanted to sing about a prince, so we met in the middle.”
Some of the best art is born of struggle through. “Fever” was born of necessity and tempered through a trial by fire. In the end, Ultrasvede might have been left with a better product than they could have anticipated.