Asheville, North Carolina emo band KEROSENE HEIGHTS are dropping their new EP, “LEAVING.”, marking a new creative era for the band, deliving into the struggles of touring, internal conflict, mental health, and death, all delivered in their characteristic rowdy emo punk style. Today, we’re excited to premiere this special release from the band, complete with their track-by-track commentary below.
The introduction of new drummer Benji Bennis has given the band a tighter sound, which is prominently showcased throughout the EP.
“The “Leaving” EP has a lot of meaning to us as a band. Everything can be fleeting and it’s easy to feel like you’re constantly in a state of leaving whether for better or worse.” – comments the band.
“You can boil down the meaning of each song to the title of the EP. This project introduces our new drummer Benji, who we’ve been playing with since December of 2023. We feel like we’ve entered a new creative era for the band, and the EP encapsulates what that’s been like for us, and to some degree reintroduces us with this new line up.”
Each song on the EP carries the theme of transition and the emotions that come with it, perfectly summarizing the feeling of always being in a state of leaving.
View this post on Instagram
Track by track commentary:
Michigan Again
Michigan Again is a tour song. I started writing it last August at a house show in Lansing. It’s obviously about being on the road, and some of the things i was going through at the time.
Michigan as the theme comes from my adoration for their scenes. So many amazing bands have come out of Michigan (The Casper Fight Scene, Liquid Mike, Normal Park, Easy Beach and FinalBossFight! being some of my newer favorites) and the scene in all of the cities I’ve been to have been unlike most other places.
They’ve really cultivated a community that pushes and rides for DIY music.
This song is basically my ode to the Michigan DIY scene and our best attempt at sounding like a band from MI.
I wrote Dennis #3 at a time when a lot of things were changing in my personal life. I couldn’t manage to shake the anxiety that any kind of change brings me, even when they’re for the better.
This song is basically me hashing out my negative feelings associated with positive change and accepting that sometimes you have to let things go. At the time my house was scheduled to be torn down so I had to move.
I had a lot of attachment to that house, and i think it played a big part in the lyrical content of this song.
Such Great is about the band. I wrote it shortly after parting with our drummer, and it seemed like everybody’s lives were headed in different directions for a bit. We collectively had a rough period where none of us really knew what was going to happen moving forward. I felt very alone at the time, and i think to some degree, we all did.
This EP means a lot to all of us because it’s a representation of moving past that and continuing to make music that we’re super proud of.
Night Walk Ultra is a reflection on people we fall out of touch with.
I feel like it’s an all too common occurrence to lose touch with someone and years later learn about the upsetting things that happened in their life. Feeling like you may have evaded something like that for yourself, or always wondering how things ended up the way they did. Revisiting memories that you hadn’t thought of in forever.
It’s a sad song. Sometimes it’s the alternative, and those people are doing great and that’s great, but more often it feels like bad news to me, or atleast that’s what sticks with me the most.
KEROSENE HEIGHTS is self-releasing “LEAVING” ahead of a series of tours and festival appearances in 2024, including PUG Fest, XLNC Fest, Midwest Friends Fest, and The Fest. The band will be touring with MICHAEL CERA PALIN, CALI CUZNS, and CHEEM starting June 24, and some August dates with the amazing NJ emo band Ogbert the Nerd (see the datails below).
A limited run of vinyl will be available for pre-order on the Thumbs Up Records website on the release day.
View this post on Instagram
werwer
