Art As Catharsis are proud to release half/cut’s brooding new single Running Around – a minimalist-rock ode to a growing disconnect in Australia’s mental health system and the first taste of new material since their exquisite debut, Ecco Locale.
Unfolding slowly, Running Around marks a darker, new direction for the band. While they’ve previously been described as Cocteau Twins meets American Football, the track bears a similar aesthetic to the classic brooding slowcore of Low coupled with vocalist Jessie L. Warren’s shadowy voice.
“A few minutes are all [Jessie] needs to make her presence felt as one of the best female vocalists going around in Melbourne. Now that Generation X has grown up, here’s hoping the Gen Y’s party like it’s 1999 again and Half/cut earn the acclaim they deserve.” – Heavy Mag
Running Around basks itself in a slow, moodiness which feels at home with sleepless evenings and dimly lit streets. Jessie L. Warren’s forlorn lyrics carry over a tasteful arrangement of minimalist instrumentals, sculpting an atmosphere both cold and distant. As the song progresses, it culminates in a thick, bellowing crescendo before slinking back into silent, shadowy minimalism – swelling and passing like a deep sigh.
“I wrote the lyrics for this song when I was particularly frustrated with the Australian mental health system,” explains Jessie. “The lyrics talk about the complexities of being a human but how quite often in the eyes of doctors and psychiatrists you are nothing but a case study, a number on a form. How psychiatrists ask the same textbook questions, put you in the too hard pile, put you on meds, send you home without actually seeing you for who you truly are, never delving deep enough to see the light inside.”
“Most people have experienced this or watched this happen to someone close to them – this is my response to that.
“It also talks about how men are often not ‘allowed’ to be sad,” she continues, “how there’s a societal pressure to be strong and capable, without weakness.”
half/cut’s new single Running Around is out now on Art As Catharsis.
Catch them at NICEFEST 2018: Melbourne on 28 April at The Grace Darling, where they will perform alongside Warpigs, Kodiak Empire, Hashshashin, Lack The Low, Cold Hands Warm Heart and Badskin.
Want to arrange an interview? Get in touch.
– Lachlan,
Art As Catharsis
(e) lachlanrdale@gmail.com
(t) @artascatharsis
(m) 0403-948-048
(w) www.artascatharsis.com