Brisbane alt-rock quartet Venice On Fire are running with a winning streak and launching into 2020 the right way: with a hot new single.
Issues is an unrelenting tour de force that calls out the destruction of toxic relationships and domestic violence with style and grace.
Hot off the heels of 2019, Venice On Fire prove that they mean business with an explosive new single about family violence.
Last year, Venice On Fire steadily built a following in the Brisbane rock scene due to their adept talent for weaving together heavy-hitting walls of sound with intellectual and engaging storytelling. Now the regional success story has shifted their lens to toxic relationships and domestic violence on their incendiary new single Issues.
The fierce track is a pounding three minutes of crunchy chords, snappy drums, and powerful lyrics. Vocalist Tom Gillespie said the idea was to focus Issues on the actions of a domestic violence perpetrator in order to shine a light on the widespread prevalence of an issue that occurs predominantly behind closed doors. Dropping just two days after International Women’s Day it seems like a divine moment to drop a much needed single.
“Domestic violence is a national crisis that is overwhelmingly committed by men, and the
victims of it are overwhelmingly women,” explains Gillespie. “I wanted to make the narrator a perpetrator because it’s important to highlight how any man is capable of committing an act of violence against a woman.”
“Perpetrators are not evil monsters that exist in a far-away land; they are often people we know, like fathers, brothers, sons, friends and colleagues.”
In a world riddled with political music, it’s nice to see artists approaching it with fresh perspectives and the emotional power it requires. Venice On Fire have hit the ground running on their first of three singles in 2020, and as far as indicators go this should be a bigger year than the last.
“As a band that feels strongly about this, I used the lyrics to showcase the initial red flags of this fictional relationship and point out the escalation of violent and toxic behaviour,” explains Gillespie further.
Catch Venice On Fire through southeast Queensland bushfire charity tour SUPPORT 4 AUSTRALIA, playing in Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast in March. Tickets here.
If you believe you or anyone you know is experiencing or committing domestic and
family violence, call DV Connect on 1800 811 811.
