Drawing influences from both post rock and screamo, Brighton’s CHALK HANDS arrives with a solid debut that disintegrates both stylistic boundaries. Featuring HOWLS drummer and guitarist/vocalist Antoine (ex-FVNERALS), the new quartet is reminiscent of the masterful work of acts like ENVY, PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH, or CASPIAN, accepts similar shapes: striking with builds, mournful interludes and climaxes that mirror its sad narrative. There are truly affective sensibilities at work with “Burrows & Other Hideouts”, and we’re thrilled to give you its first listen, along with some first-hand commentaries from the band, below.
The EP is called “Burrows & Other Hideouts” because this EP literally materialises a safe place. A place where all the noise going on in my head shuts down. That’s what playing music has always done for me, it helps me keeping the bad thoughts away by doing something that I love. Every time I reached a low point in my life, it’s what’s helped me get out of bed. I also like the primal aspect of the word “Burrows” because for animals it literally represents a place where they can’t get killed, I think it’s a strong symbol and that’s why I chose it. That’s also what the cover represents, it’s basically a representation of a “human tree burrow”, with a city coming out of it.
CHALK HANDS‘ debut EP “Burrows & Other Hideouts” is out August 28th on new Brighton label Future Void Records. The record was tracked at The Ranch Production House (We Never Learned To Live, Goodtime Boys, …) and mastered at Knack Mastering (Pianos Become The Teeth, Title Fight, La Dispute).
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Track-by-track commentary:
Burrows – The first track “Burrows” is the oldest of the 2 tracks on the EP.
We’ve been a band for a year and a half now, and I’ve always wanted to have this element of urgency and intensity within our music. The song starts quietly, it feels almost intimate, and within seconds it goes all out, we really wanted it to be overwhelming. I guess in some ways it resembles birth itself, you come out of a safe place and all of a sudden you have to deal with everything being too much, so quite a fitting first song then for the new band that we are.Arms – “Arms” is the most recent track we’ve written and I think showcases a more serious and deeper side of Chalk Hands. We’re still early in the history of the band so who knows where we’ll go from here, but I’m sure as it’s our most recent work it’s the closest to what Chalk Hands will be in the foreseeable future, and all the intentions the song showcases will be carried on in the future one way or another; urgent, intense, melancholic and overwhelming. And to be honest I can’t imagine myself playing or writing anything else than something like that because it’s only a reaction to how life can sometimes feel.
“Burrows & Other Hideouts” is the first offering from the Brighton based screamo outfit since their inception earlier this year. After meeting within the city’s vibrant underground scene, the band was soon formed over a mutual passion for creating sincere and expressive music.
Effortlessly drifting between crushingly heavy and beautifully delicate, Chalk Hands combine intense post-rock soundscapes with desperate vocals. The result is a gripping blend of epic highs and devastating lows that the band rightfully describes as “loud, sad songs”.
