half•alive
I found this band through amazing animations of their songs on YouTube. They have a wide range of instrumentation in their music that lets them explore a wide range of moods, and their way of writing communicates complex themes with simple words in a way that makes their music easy to understand. Their relentless optimism and hope never fails to affect me, and I never get tired of a song after listening to it over and over again. Why not try a few of their songs at least once?
I recommend listening to Now, Not Yet and Persona as they're my favourite albums, and the themes in those albums are ones that you see in most of their music. My favourite songs from both of these albums are Creature, Still Feel, Maybe, Pure Gold, Rest, Long Drive, and Sophie's House.
See my thoughts about a half•alive album!
Click a ring on the disk!
The disk that you're seeing to the left of this text has all the half•alive songs that are part of an album. The rings of the disk correspond to the different albums: first albums in the centre and most recent albums on the edge.
Of course, the disk is in a case, so you'll have to open the lid using the button on the top left first, but after that, you can click on any ring of the disk to see my thoughts about an album, and the individual songs in an album if the album is short enough.
The disk that you're seeing to the top of this text has all the half•alive songs that are part of an album. The rings of the disk correspond to the different albums: first albums in the centre and most recent albums on the edge.
Of course, the disk is in a case, so you'll have to open the lid using the button on the top left first, but after that, you can click on any ring of the disk to see my thoughts about an album, and the individual songs in an album if the album is short enough.
Here are some direct links to the thoughts I have if you don't want to use the disk, but why would you when the disk can spin?
3
half•alive's first EP
This is the 3 EP, and it's a good start! It talks about faith, trust, their relationship with God, and self-reflection: All in three songs! Because it's their first album (Honestly, it's probably considered a single, but I'm calling it an EP) their style hasn't really emerged yet, so the music's genre is a bit generic. I would say this is a great place to go if you want to know where their themes come from, because you can see a lot of the topics they still talk about in their latest music by listening to this EP. In that way, 3 is valuable, but i would rather recommend other albums.
You can hear the thoughts I have about specific songs below:
The Fall
The lyrics in this song remind me of TrusT, because of the similar themes. However, there's a key difference: in The Fall, the singer doesn't have faith in the person he's singing to. The quality of the song makes it hard for me to believe that it comes from their first album, but when I listen to their later work I can sense the improvement in instrumentation and writing.Aawake at Night
This is definitely my favourite song to listen to in this EP solely due to how it sounds- the melody is enchanting to me. The structure of the song may be a bit cliché, but it doesn't feel out of place. It makes sense that they would go safe with the music for their first EP before they grow out of it.Tip Toes
The theme of this song is something I don't see very often in music: the tension between your desire for fulfillment and your ego. Music is very often either one or the other, and the acknowledgment of a middle ground is very genuine, which is why this song resonates with me the most compared to other songs in this EP. A great end to their first EP, but their next album has more amazing songs!Now, Not Yet
half•alive's debut album
Now, Not Yet is the album that got me into liking their music, and it's also their first full album, with twelve songs! it's very comforting to me. It talks about a lot of the concepts in the 3 album (self-fulfillment, trust, and faith), but the topics also include optimism, motivation, and self-care.
Because this album has many songs, I will put the songs that I have the most interesting thoughts about in bold.
ok, ok?
As the first song in Now, Not Yet, it's a great introduction to the themes we'll see in the rest of the album. Just by hearing the first few seconds of the song, you wouldn't expect how quiet the rest of the song is- it's a very calming ballad. This song is about being comfortable in who you are rather than crafting a personality in the pursuit of becoming popular, finding your place in the world and being at peace with yourself. It's very comforting to listen to, which fits very well with what it's about.RUNAWAY
This song picks up the energy compared to the song that plays before it, while having a very similar theme, though it looks further into the future at the potential of change. The song concludes that planning exactly who you will become isn't possible, and that we should embrace who we are now and go forward with that in mind.Maybe
I remember sharing this song with other people in the hopes of giving them the hope that this song gives me- the message of Maybe is very powerful. Maybe is about not letting your past struggles define you and making the most out of your circumstances: letting go of a narrative that isn't serving you anymore. It's freeing.the notion
This track is not music, rather it's a recording of someone speaking about their surprise that everyone in half•alive is religious. The end of Maybe has a sound that sounds like a telephone ring, so it makes sense that a message would play afterwards.still feel.
This is, by far, half•alive's most popular song, and it being so popular makes sense! I recommend watching the music video on YouTube- A part of the song's popularity is the music video, with choreography that I haven't seen anywhere else. The song is about finding the motivation within yourself to keep going even when you feel hopeless and detatched from the world. And it's very fun to dance to.TrusT
I mentioned this song in my thoughts about The Fall. The name of the song is pretty self-explanatory, but this song doesn't really make sense if you don't relate it to God. The main thing I take away from this song is that despite the uncertainty that comes with having faith in God, being placed in situations that you don't know the outcome of, you can have faith in Their motivations and in unconditional love.arrow
This song continues the idea of the unpredictability of change, with an acknowledgement of the difficulty of being in the middle of your journey and feeling like you're unable to rest.Pure Gold
This song is one of my favourites due to the instrumentation, as well as the great music video and its message. It embraces the idea of humanity having inherent worth, and the beauty of life itself. The infectious optimism of this song also contributes to how much I enjoy it.ice cold.
This song is about how the mindset of pessimism, looking for things to be dismayed about, worsens your life. It suggests that embracing hope and prioritising the good things you have in your life will bring happiness and self-fulfillment. It features Kimbra, who's famous for also featuring in Somebody That You Used To Know, which is an interesting fact that I haven't realised until recently.Rest
The message of this song is a counter to the idea of working constantly and pursuing wealth being the most important priority. This song celebrates slowing down and taking time to rest, in order to process and enjoy life.BREAKFAST
This song is about letting yourself be vulnerable, and how that can counterintuitively be the more difficult thing to do. It's possible that you can move forward, that nothing is hopeless.creature
This is, by far, my favourite song of this album. Not just of this album, it's been one of my favourite songs of all time since I found the song years ago. The synths and other instruments have a force that drive a sense of certainty, and the lyrics are radiant and confident: despite our flaws, we will make it to our next moment. We can trust in who we were and who we will become. It's a culmination of all the other ideas in this album, creating a healing power that never fails to make me feel better when I listen to it.Conditions Of A Punk
half•alive's second album
Conditions Of A Punk is honestly kind of a weird album, because they released the first half of it as an EP, and then they rereleased it with extra songs as this. There's 18 songs, so I will not be discussing each one (I will list my favourites), but it's definitely worth listening to all of the songs to get a full picture of the album. There's a chance you will come back from the experience not liking every part of it, because it's very different from their previous albums, in the way that it talks less about ideas and themes and talks more about a specific relationship: past mistakes, how you used to be, and realising that you need to improve yourself. It's very focused on taking responsibility, recognising when things are futile, and learning to move on.
My favourite songs from this album are the title track (Conditions Of A Punk), Brighton, Nobody, Back Around, Did I Make You Up?, and What's Wrong.
Persona
half•alive's third album
Persona is their most recent album. It took me back to a time before the daily dread of life set in, and in that space, I could engage with the music in a completely different way. To say it simply, it is really good. There's lots of fun songs if that's your thing, and there's some slower songs if you like that too. The juxtaposition works: it's one of the most stable and comforting things I've ever listened to. It brings the optimism of Now, Not Yet and combines it with the passion of Conditions Of A Punk and it makes this unique album with a unique style that I've never seen before. There's no reason I wouldn't recommend listening to Persona, It's very short and every song brings something valuable to the album. That's how it feels like: everything is cohesive again.
Here are some thoughts I have on each track:
Persona + Sophie's House
Persona is the intstrumental prelude to Sophie's House so I will not review it.Sophie's House is an energetic and upbeat song that I love listening to- not just for the instrumentation and melodies, but for the message of the song. It communicates the same feeling with both its music and lyrics: being in an idyllic moment in time that you feel sentimental for while experiencing it.