The Dirty Nil Drop New Video For “Celebration”

Ontario’s rock ‘n’ roll torchbearers, The Dirty Nil, are set to unveil their fourth album, Free Rein to Passions, on May 26th, 2023 via Dine Alone Records. Click here to pre-order Free Rein to Passions now. Following up on the record’s first single, “Nicer Guy,” the trio are now sharing the album’s opener entitled “Celebration.”

Featuring a chugging metal riff as a subtle ode to one of The Nil‘s influences, Power Trip’s late frontman Riley Gale. “This is our purest love song, unconditional and without mercy,” says frontman Luke Bentham. “Tell me what you want in the whole wide world. I’ll do it.”

Free Rein to Passions keeps things simple lyrically and doesn’t get bogged down with overly complicated messaging. Nothing overwrought, nothing didactic. Just songs about working soul-sucking jobs, shredding on guitar, and striving to be a kinder person. “The only real central theme of the album is an acknowledgment of the crazy circumstances that we all occupy at this point in time, and being nice,” Bentham stresses. “It’s about being nice to everyone around you, and enjoying your silly little life and not getting too smashed down by prevailing negativity in the air.”

The Nil again recruited longtime collaborative producer John Goodmanson to capture their sound at Jukasa Media on Ontario’s Six Nations Reserve. They also brought in new blood with bassist Sam Tomlinson, a friend and fellow product of the Dundas scene. “In some ways it feels like going back to our roots in Dundas, and Sam knows what that’s like,” adds drummer Kyle Fisher. “He’s cut from the same cloth as Luke and I.”