Band: Erik & The Worldly Savages; Musician: Erik Mut
Album: ‘Break Free;’ Released: November 23, 2022; Producer: Caspar Wijnberg (Amsterdam, NL)
Singer-songwriter Erik Mut is conducting his life as a musician and an independent thinker in innovating ways, as he has broken away from the restraints of Western society and is leading his own path of freedom around the world. An expat since 2008, the singer left his home in Toronto, Canada at the age of 25 to garner inspiration from cultures from around the world for his personal beliefs, actions and most importantly, his music.
Mut is chronicling his life-defining journey on his recently released six track indie world EP, ‘Break Free,’ with his folk punk rock, reggae and heavy metal project, Erik & the Worldly Savages. The musician, who currently resides in Koh Phangan Thailand and Belgrade, Serbia, reflects on his journey of seeking personal freedom, breaking away from the past and wholeheartedly embracing life without any hesitation on every entry on the album.
‘Break Free’ chronicles people’s overwhelming need to liberate themselves from the monotony of life in the West, particularly when it comes to social conditioning, corporate jobs and mediocrity, to instead discover the world. Erik & the Worldly Savages’ new counterculture record breaks cultural boundaries, as its songs encourage people to follow their dreams of relinquishing the corporate lifestyle that’s been trapping them in normality and instead capturing true personal freedom.
The latest EP from Erik & the Worldly Savages begins with the entry, ‘Brainwashed,’ which reflects on the social engineering of society, how it infringes on individuality and breeds complacent mediocrity. The pop-punk track, which draws lyrical and instrumental inspiration from tunes from 1990s punk bands such as Sublime, explores the regret Mut feels over society’s emphasis on corporate-first mentality. The singer’s raw vocals and lyrics remind listeners how disheartening for most citizens to survive in modernized corporate society. So he reminds listeners that in order for people to be truly free, they must fight back against the lies of their leaders who willingly brainwash them.
‘Brainwashed’ is then followed by ‘Break Free’s sophomore entry, ‘Dry Fear,’ which takes a dark look at a society where people are so used to being repressed by fear that they forget that they have the freedom to choose how they want to live their lives. The song’s lyrics, which are set against a chilling background of organ and synth arpeggio, remind his listeners that they need to break free so that they can be liberated from the lies government leaders have told them about how society should be run.
Erik & The Worldly Savages’ new album begins to wind down with its penultimate fifth entry, ‘Leaving.’ The track shows that when a person is ready to depart from the comforts and norms of their daily existence, many people in their life question if they should really give up what they know. But the person remains fearlessly resolute in their decision to embark on their own journey. Similar to the instrumentals, vocals and tones of ‘Dry Fear,’ ‘Leaving’ emphasizes the importance of people taking action in improving their life and finding happiness, and feeling free to pursue their own personal dream.
‘Break Free’ ends with the contemplative entry, ‘Burn My Life,’ during which Mut explores his peaceful upbringing in Canada and how he sacrificed his idyllic first world life to find inspiration in, a new life of freedom abroad. The hard rock tune is the perfect retrospect of the musician honoring his past while also embracing the possibilities of his future. Backed by rhythm instrumentals that easily flow with the help of the chord progression, his lyrics remind remind his listeners that they should let go of their inhibitions and create new experiences if they truly want to embrace their full freedoms and potential.
Erik & the Worldly Savages’ ‘Break Free’s energetically explosive and emotionally raw punk rock, folk, reggae, heavy metal and world vocals and instrumentals created an authentically human journey that explores the possibilities of life beyond barriers. Mut emotionally chronicles his life-defining journey of seeking personal freedom, breaking away from the past and wholeheartedly embracing life without any hesitation on every entry on the record, most particularly ‘Break Free.’ Erik & the Worldly Savages’ new counterculture music breaks cultural boundaries, as they encourage people to follow their dreams of relinquishing the corporate lifestyle that’s been trapping them in normality and instead pursue capturing their true personal freedom.
For more information on Erik & The Worldly Savages, visit its official website, as well as their Facebook, Spotify and YouTube pages.