From the stages of Europe to the heart of Quebec, the trio behind HAIL MARY are levelling up
There is a moment in every video game when you realize you have already made the mistake. The lives are gone, the level is lost, and all you can do is watch the consequences play out before you hit continue. Montreal rock trio Les Shirley have built a career on turning those gut-punch moments into anthems, and their new single “PLAYER2” might be the most honest one yet.
The second single from their forthcoming album HAIL MARY, arriving September 25, 2026, “PLAYER2” is not a love song in the traditional sense but a reckoning. Raphaëlle Chouinard, Lisandre Bourdages, and Sarah Dion zoom in on something most people would rather not admit: the pattern of knowing you are the problem, watching yourself repeat the damage, and still not knowing how to stop.
One Player, Two Consequences
The video game framing is a clever title. In a two-player game, one person’s choices directly affect the other. There is no solo run when someone else has picked up the second controller. The song puts a name to that imbalance: one person in a relationship fighting their own internal boss battles while their partner, the “player two,” absorbs the collateral damage.
Lines like “I’m the one to blame / Over and over again” are not self-pity. They are the specific misery of someone who can see the loop clearly and still cannot break out of it. That framing resonates far beyond romantic relationships. Anyone who has ever watched themselves repeat a pattern they hated will feel the floor drop out from under them somewhere in this track.
The Sound of Someone Standing at the Edge
Musically, “PLAYER2” fits squarely within what Les Shirley do best: urgency wrapped around a melodic hook sharp enough to draw blood. The track lives in the frantic middle ground between wanting to change and not knowing how, which is frankly one of the hardest emotional places to write from without tipping into self-indulgence. They do not tip.
The repeated plea “What if I’m ready to play?” lands as a question rather than a declaration. That distinction matters. It is the sound of someone who has said the wrong things too many times asking whether this time might actually be different, with no guarantee of an answer. It follows the first single “Not My Problem” into very different territory. Where that track drew a line in the sand, “PLAYER2” asks what happens after you cross it.
If you have not seen what Les Shirley look like live, the previous interview on Montreal Rocks gives you a good sense of how the band operates and where this material comes from. The honesty on the record is the same honesty they bring to a room.
Built for the Road
Les Shirley are not a band that makes records and waits. HAIL MARY drops September 25, and by that point they will already have spent the summer working through Quebec, with dates running through the festivals and into the fall. From La SALSO in Matane on July 2 through the Festival de la poutine in Drummondville on August 7 to Festibière de Québec on August 14, the summer slate is packed. A broader Canadian tour runs from November 2026 through spring 2027, hitting Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Sutton, Shawinigan, and Saint-Jérôme among others.
The band has shared stages with Foo Fighters, Green Day, Billy Talent, and Weezer. That context matters here. Les Shirley are not still trying to prove they belong. They are making the record they actually want to make, with the emotional weight to back it up.
HAIL MARY lands September 25, 2026. The video for “PLAYER2” is out now.
