Brandon Williams makes resonant songs that capture isolation and resilience. As the songwriter behind Chastity, the Whitby, Ontario musician has made three unrelentingly perceptive albums culminating in the cathartic Suffer Summer, which is out January 13, 2022 via Deathwish and Dine Alone Records. The LP caps off an album trilogy that showcases both Williams? emotional range as a lyricist but also his boundless love of outsider music. His 2018 debut Death Lust pulled from Unwound and The Smashing Pumpkins as he grappled with mortality while 2019?s Home Made Satan dealt in world-weary anxiety and Hum-like atmospherics. But Suffer Summer is a meditation on happiness, channeled through powerhouse riffs and undeniably potent choruses, sung with Mineral and Jimmy Eat World worn on his sleeve. It?s an album that shows how healing and staying content is hard but necessary work. Williams mostly wrote Suffer Summer throughout 2019 while he and his band joined acts like Fucked Up, DIIV, and Alexisonfire on tour. It was a fruitful and exciting period for Williams, who whittled down 24 new tracks to 10, taking several new creative leaps while penning these songs. Take ?Happy Face,? the first song Williams wrote for Suffer Summer and his most autobiographical offering to date. Written as a tribute to his longtime friend who died of an overdose, Williams sings, ?You and I were alive at the same time / I?m lucky for it / You showed me the Misfits and we sang Out ‘Last Caress? / I?m lucky for it.? It?s raw and gutwrenching in a way that Williams has never allowed himself to be but writing about grief proved to be cathartic for him. ?Until now I?ve always tried to keep a safe arm’s length away from the real-life content of my songs but on that song, I couldn’t,? said Williams. ?It was just a needed tribute to him.? For any artist, taking risks, trusting your intuition, and relinquishing control is a delicate balance but for these songs, Williams knew he needed to step out of his comfort zone by making his writing more collaborative. He enlisted one of Chastity?s earliest and most vocal supporters PUP frontman Stefan Babcock to co-write opener single ?Real World? and LP highlight ?When You Go Home I Withdrawal.? Both songs find Williams stretching his voice for surging choruses that are anthemic and immediate. ?It was so great to work with Stefan: just his attention to detail, song structure, and everything,? said Williams. ?He?s a legend and has pumped my tires so much in an actual practical way that has given me courage throughout Chastity.? Babcock isn?t the only surprise collaborator on this LP. Alexisonfire and City and Colour?s Dallas Green appears as a guest vocalist on ?Vicious Circle,? the emotional centerpiece of Suffer Summer. The song, which Williams co-wrote with his partner Ellis? Linnea Siggelkow, boasts some of his best writing (?Borrowing an old feeling to cover the pain / Can?t keep memories of only the good things,?) and when Green joins to