August 26 2021

Snowy Band “Alternate Endings” out now!

The band’s sophomore album was written in direct response to the debut – loosely mirroring the original’s themes, song sequencing and aesthetic – distorting and flipping it in the process; a vivid dream-sequence to the soft-focus realism of Audio Commentary. In this regard, ‘Whatever You Want’ is the spiritual sequel to 2020’s lead single ‘Love You To Death’ – exploring another side to unconditional love.

FROM THE BAND:

Whatever You Want, which was originally titled Death of a Yes-Man (changed because it is a really shit song title) explores the extremes we are capable of in the name of love. It’s seemingly heart-warming chorus – which arrived fully formed upon waking one morning, then quickly recorded as a phone voice memo – is betrayed with darker verses (“Swore I would kill for you / Whatever you ask me to”).

Despite all of the song’s hyperbole of devotion it is undercut by the opening line “I’ve got a history / That cannot help repeating” suggesting these are patterns of destruction. The song was inspired itself by recurring anxiety dreams; running late to catch doomed flights and trains, trying in vain to perform unmemorised lines onstage, endlessly checking into shared accommodation of tiny rooms stacked with children’s bunk-beds. “I’ve seen / The Airbnb where I die in my sleep” is the songs bleak premonition, an unremarkable death in the depths of the gig economy. Not even nearly as romantic as a classic overdose in a hotel room.

Although featuring just the one chord sequence repeated over the tracks nearly five minutes, musically, we shift focus as often as the lyrics seem to. Not relegated to a strict time-keeping role, drums play around and off the vocal melodies while the bass also eschews the obvious choices, re-harmonising just four simple chords into a multitude of moods. Mirroring the lyrics, despite trying in vain and threatening to collapse into oblivion, the whole band lock-in for the repeated vow of the chorus “I would still do / Whatever you want”.

Snowy Band is the primary musical project of Melbourne-based musician and songwriter Liam “Snowy” Halliwell (formerly of The Ocean Party and countless other Australian groups over the past decade).

Formed in 2019 with longtime friends and collaborators Emma Russack, Natalie Pavlovic and Dylan Young, Snowy Band worked quickly and consistently throughout their first year in existence – writing, recording and playing their first shows – culminating in the release of their debut LP 12 months on.

Audio Commentary, the groups’ first recorded output was critically acclaimed locally – appearing as Album of the Week across PBS, FBi, Edge, SYN, and 3RRR.

Released in March on the cusp of a global pandemic, Snowy Band was forced into stasis and physical separation from one another. In a bid to counter the slowing of momentum, as soon as restrictions were eased the band re-convened to write and record a follow-up; the intention not only to catch up on lost time but to ignore that the previous months of isolation had even occurred.

Snowy Band‘s second album Alternate Endings is set for release August 27th via Spunk Records.