Londoners Howling Bells will return with new album, Strange Life, on February 13 via Nude Records. They have already given us a taste of the new record with singles “Chimera”, “Heavy Lifting” and “Unbroken.”
They’ve since returned with “Melbourne”, the final single shared ahead of its release. The track is one about yearning and grief, that is delivered with a cinematic widescreen blend of alt country and folk with a dreamy spirit. There are traces of the work of Lord Huron in their thoughtful and graceful build-up and spirited take on the genre that pierces through with an emotional approach.
Detailing the track, the band’s Juanita Stein adds:
“Melbourne is a song about deep yearning and ultimately grief. It explores a unique inner conflict many of us feel when we leave our homes and families to start anew somewhere else. This aching can be especially intense when we’re faced with something traumatic and all we want is the safety and warm embrace of the familiar.”
I experienced a heightened version of this when I returned to Melbourne a few years ago to play some shows, having not been back for a while. It felt slightly surreal and tragic being there without any family to share this with, as they had also left Australia over the years. Then, within 24 hours of touchdown, I got a call from a hospital in England telling me that my father, who was ill, had taken a turn for the worse, and so I had to pack up and return to the UK before I’d even played a show. It was brutal. I felt a thousand things that day, from the physical weight of having to lug around 2 huge suitcases full of merch I was planning to unload, to sitting alone in tears at the airport in Singapore during the layover. All these experiences left me with a deep well of sadness and a longing to return to my homeland to find what it is I’d now lost forever. This is something I carry around with me every day. All it takes is the glimmer of the sun at a certain time of day, or the occasional scent of an eucalyptus tree, or the sharp twinge of nostalgia when I hear the melody of a particular song, to remind me of the sadness and beauty that is now my Australia”.
Enjoy the music video for “Melbourne” now below.
Join the conversation