Northlane Frontman Recalls ‘Financial Ruin’ & Backlash Around ‘Alien’

25 February 2022 | 2:13 pm | Staff Writer

"That’s still something that sits with me and makes me feel a bit funny.”

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One of the country’s most beloved heavy acts, it hasn’t always been easy for Aussie outfit Northlane.

Speaking with host Neil Griffiths on a recent episode of The Plug podcast in the lead up to forthcoming album Obsidian, frontman Marcus Bridge discussed some low points around 2019 LP Alien.

Bridge revealed the band were in “financial ruin” in the lead up to the album.

“I think maybe there were just a few missteps along the way,” he said.

“People we were working with, whether that be agents overseas or whatever, I just feel like we didn’t quite hit the marks that we were wanting to and we might have blown a bit of money where we maybe shouldn’t have.

”When our contract had run up with UNFD we were looking around and thinking: ‘Is there anything that anyone else or UNFD can offer us that we can’t do ourselves?’

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“It just felt like the right time to go out on our own.”

Once Alien was out, Bridge copped backlash from people in his life due to the personal lyrics throughout the album.

“I copped a bit of stuff both from my Mum and other people… I could understand that, but I was also just like, it’s not fair for her to put that on me when it’s me talking about my upbringing and there’s not much you can change about that,” he said.

“Not long after Alien came out, my mum passed away. I was very upset that the last, kind of, thoughts that my Mum might had of me was that I hated her… it’s a complicated situation with my Mum, but it still feels bad to have left it on that note and not really be able to – not that it could have been resolved – but not have that chance to at least come to terms with it or just agree or for us to understand each other. I never got that chance and that’s still something that sits with me and makes me feel a bit funny.”

Northlane’s new album, Obsidian, is set for release on April 22.