Halfloves - “Hospice”
Photos: Britt Fowler
Iowa-based indie rockers Halfloves have just released a new single, entitled “Hospice.” It opens with some guitar picking that might make any music fan long for the ‘90s, but don’t let it fool you– this thing gets modern very quickly. Because once the vocals begin, it will immediately cause one to compare them to the likes of Band of Horses and Local Natives– and we generally despise drawing quick comparisons, but because these are two of our favorite bands, it comes directly from the heart and Halfloves, as you will see, are extremely gifted in their musical craft.
As the title suggests, “Hospice” is about death, wasting no time in displaying the darkness of its subject matter, with the opening lines: “Slowly fade into the black… Medications and operations could never keep the reaper back…” Anyone who has ever lost someone will find a melancholic familiarity simply by thumbing through the lyrics of “Hospice,” but when combined with the music, it is more comforting than anything else– empathy over sympathy. And once the harmonies kick in on the back half of the first verse, there is the sudden sensation of no longer being alone in one’s darkness.
For those of you who have ever had to say goodbye to a loved one, this track could potentially cut you in half, as we’ve had to step away from writing this review a couple times. But its message is important as it is a topic that is quite the departure from most of the music that comes through our blog– while there are countless tunes about longing for love or missing someone, not many venture into the idea of a permanent farewell. On the other hand, “Hospice” is so well constructed and performed that it could have been about anything and we would have still welcomed it on this page.
About the track, Halfloves offer that it “focuses on death; mainly from the perspective of family and younger generations. Death will forever be a mysterious, circular element of life. This song attempts to capture both the sadness and grief of death while also embracing its powerful capacity to bring about renewed perspective and appreciation for those we love as they bridge the gap between here and the hereafter.”
-TM