Redemption Songs

There comes a point in any punk’s life when it’s time to try something different. For Wade MacNeil, known to the world’s moshpits as guitarist with Toronto hardcore band Alexisonfire and as frontman with UK punks Gallows, that time is now.

Far from the screams of the bands that made him, his new project, Dooms Children, is a deeply beautiful meditation on depression, addiction and hopeful redemption. Written partly during his darkest hours and partly in rehab, it’s set against a swooning psych-rock background and seasoned with touches of lush Americana.

Over the past two years, while he struggled with personal demons, MacNeil delved. It’s a stunning about-face, born from those formative tours.