Leather Jacket

"Leather Jacket" was the most difficult song for Arkells to write for their third album, High Noon. Lead singer and guitarist, Max Kerman, explained in our interview that the band knew they had something there, but the song was just not clicking. It finally came together in the studio when they made a little pivot in the chorus.

"Leather Jacket" was inspired by the song "When No One's Watching" by the lead singer of The Hold Steady, Craig Finn. Max Kerman is a huge fan of the band and thinks that Finn has an incredible way of writing about the nightlife of young people in the city. Kerman wanted a song like that on High Noon, so "Leather Jacket" was his attempt at it. Explaining the meaning of the tune, he told us: "The idea is that if you have a friend calling you at two in the morning from a payphone, the chances are that s--t isn't going well that day or just in general." "It's about understanding where people are coming from and just being a supportive person," Kerman added. "I've been in that situation myself, too. I've been there before and I've had friends come bail me out."

Max Kerman revealed to the Huffington Post Canada the television show that inspired a couple of the lyrics in the song. "The 'southern accent' lyric is somewhat unrelated: a few years ago I watched Friday Night Lights while we were on tour, and ended up talking like Coach Taylor with fans after the shows. I don't think anyone really noticed," he said.