Latest news with #TheStyx
Scoop
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Halfway Release Matches, The 2nd Single From Their New Album The Styx
Halfway have been a band for quarter of a century, and across that time they've made eight studio albums, each of which has received a wealth of critical acclaim. From their origins in 2000, Halfway have developed their style and songs into cinematic soundscapes, lush with pedal steel, densely layered guitars, and driving rhythms. Halfway's new album, The Styx, features the return to the fold of band co-founder Chris Dale after a six-year absence, and contributions from guests including Chris Abrahams (The Necks, Midnight Oil) and Adele Pickvance (The Go-Betweens). ' The Palace ' was the first taste of the new album and now they reveal the second single ' Matches ', written by John Busby and bassist Ben Johnson. The song creaks and shimmers to life courtesy of its gently sparkling guitars and atmospheric keys. Drums enter the fray as the music swells and expands into an evocative sound akin to the best of Mercury Rev, where musical dreams and memories coexist. " The coals of a fire are neither flame nor ash. 'Matches' sits in the space between ignition and extinction, rooted in uncertainty," says Johnson. " The stories of The Styx inhabit that uncertain ground where nothing is fully on or off, alive or gone. What begins as fire ends as cinders and lingers softly afterward." A concept album of sorts, The Styx is situated in a remote Australian coastal town during the Christmas of 1986 and explores themes of family, isolation, love, and betrayal. " Growing up, my family would spend time at Stanage Bay in Central Queensland, which is a small fishing village situated to the southeast of the Styx River. It was a remote and beautiful place," reflects Busby. He didn't know anything about Greek mythology but saw the beauty and the danger there just the same. On fishing trips with his father and a cast of characters who might have walked out of the pages of a John Steinbeck story, he must have heard a hundred times: 'People drown in here.' Seeds were planted. ' The whole Stanage Bay / Styx River area, and the people there, are a big part of this record. When some of the band and our friends started to inform the songs, I knew I had to set it at the bay,' says Busby. ' It's a place full of beauty and mystery. I had been wanting to base a story there for a long time.' There is nothing mythic about these stories of love, lust, longing, and leaving, which feel as real as an errant fishhook deep into flesh. Brothers George and Lennie are the kind of hard-bitten characters who might be found in stories by Steinbeck or Richard Flanagan, battling the elements and themselves and always with an eye out for the fishing inspectors. Just before daylight, Lennie goes to check the nets. He doesn't return. The recording of the album took on a different form for the band, who recorded themselves in Brisbane before Mark Nevers (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Lambchop, Calexico, George Jones) shaped the mix of the songs at his South Carolina studio, with Busby alongside him. ' We usually just record live in a room, but this one started quietly. Just my guitar and vocals, layering it track by track, and then recording the drums last. A weird back-to-front album, but it gave us the chance to put the story / songs first rather than concentrate on how the songs would work live.' The sound the band has concocted is one of sweeping beauty and sonic grace, both heartfelt and tragic. Guitar strings and keys wash across the speakers, like the ocean breeze and the river tide. Drawing on the influence of bands such as The Triffids and Phosphorescent, Halfway seamlessly blend alt-country and indie rock sensibilities, providing the songs with a hypnotic and compelling backdrop to these poetic tales from the Australian coastline. As in their songs, as in life. Love lost and found, the pain and the hope, the past and the landscape ever-present. Great songwriting often finds a way to make the deeply personal feel universal. Few bands navigate that path as surely as Halfway across their nine timeless albums.
Scoop
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Halfway Release New Single 'The Palace'
The Styx - Songs of Love & Betrayal: Xmas 1986: Two brothers, George and Lennie live with their young families in the remote fishing village of Stanage Bay, Central Queensland. One warm evening on low-tide, the men set their nets in the Styx River and leave them to soak overnight. Just before daylight, Lennie breaks camp to check on the catch, but he doesn't return. For Fans Of: Bruce Springsteen, Mercury Rev, The Triffids, Phosphorescent Brisbane band Halfway are excited to release 'The Palace', the first single from their new album The Styx, set for release mid 2025. Halfway have been a band for quarter of a century, and across that time they've made eight studio albums, each of which has received a wealth of critical acclaim. From their origins in 2000, Halfway have developed their style and songs into cinematic soundscapes, lush with pedal steel, densely layered guitars, and driving rhythms. Across their creative career the band's albums have been produced and/or recorded by the likes of Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens), Wayne Connolly (The Vines, Josh Pyke, You Am I), Rob Younger (Radio Birdman), Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris, Patti Smith), and Mark Nevers (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Lambchop, Calexico, George Jones) - who mixed the new album at his South Carolina studio. Halfway have shared stages with The Black Keys, Gomez, You Am I, J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Josh Pyke, Band of Horses, Gary Louris and Mark Olsen (The Jayhawks), and Richard Hawley. Halfway have also been recipients of AIR and Queensland Music Awards, with John Busby and Chris Dale winning Queensland's most prestigious songwriting award – The Grant McLennan Fellowship in 2008. ' The Palace ', which premiered on Stuart Coupe's Dirt Music on 2SER and online with Rhythms magazine, is the first taste of Halfway's new album The Styx. The record features the return to the fold of band co-founder Chris Dale after a six-year absence, and contributions from guests including Chris Abrahams (The Necks, Midnight Oil) and Adele Pickvance (The Go-Betweens) A concept album of sorts, The Styx is situated in a remote Australian coastal town and explores themes of family, isolation, love, and betrayal. As songwriter John Busby explains, quite a few of the songs threaded through it are informed by his own personal experiences, and 'The Palace' is one of those. " Growing up, my family would spend time at Stanage Bay in Central Queensland which is a small fishing village situated to the South East of the Styx River. It was a remote and beautiful place," reflects Busby. " One year on the drive up, I bought a cassette copy of the album The Queen Is Dead, by The Smiths, for $6 at Kmart Rockhampton. There were hundreds of copies of that cassette on the shelves. I figured that it hadn't gone so well here in Australia, so there was probably something good about it. I played it as the sun went down over the mangroves at Clairview Beach. It felt like it was a letter addressed directly to the teenage me," he reveals. "Something from another world, reaching out to even the most remote of places. It was a valuable lesson in the power of music and art, and the location made it even more memorable. Sometimes, living in small towns the future can seem restricted and narrow. But the messages I received from this record told me otherwise." explains Busby. " So 'The Palace' pays homage to The Smiths and to dreaming even in the most remote places. It's a song for the outliers and people living in the margins." Out of a heart-wrenching pedal steel, courtesy of Noel Fitzpatrick, emerges Elwin Hawtin 's solid backbeat and those chiming, hypnotic guitars (John Willsteed, Chris Dale, John Busby) that Halfway do so well. Vocal melodies duck and weave, hanging in the air with a melancholic grace as Busby delivers his lyrics amid the exquisite and atmospheric alt-country sprawl. 'The Palace' is out now via Bandcamp, and streaming services, plus Amrap for Australian community radio. The new album is now available for pre-order from Plus One Records. Bundles include, gatefold transparent green vinyl, CD, and limited edition The Styx t-shirts.
