TRACK BY TRACK: Belle Haven Take You Through Their New EP ‘Time Changes Nothing'

CONTENT WARNING: This article contains discussion of mental health. If you are suffering from any of the issues that have been discussed or need assistance, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

TAKE YOUR PILL

David: I think this was the first song we started working on for the Time Changes Nothing EP. I remember CV showing me the opening riff and it instantly gave me similar vibes to Blessthefall. Initially, I actually wanted to call this song Electromagnetic, but it sounded a little superhero-ish or something so we didn’t. I began writing this during a hospital stay in 2018. Things weren’t great.

CV: It’s funny that David says it gave him a Blessthefall vibe 'cause I remember distinctly listening to a song from a Blessthefall record from the early 2010s and being like, “Damn, that style of riff is so sick.” So I tried to write a riff that gave me the same kind of feeling as that BTF song did. Took me ages to come up with the main riff, I think I was overcomplicating it at first.

Tom: For me, the lyrics to this song hit home more than any other song ever written by Belle Haven. As well as David's experience, I had to watch a partner of mine go through the same treatment and excruciating process for the sake of their mental health. This song will always remind me of the strength of my friends for that reason.

MISTAKES

David: For so long I wasn’t sure I even liked the chorus of this song. I remember spinning the demo when I was drafting lyrical ideas and all my ideas would halt when I’d get to the chorus because I just didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. After some patience though, it turned into one of my favourite choruses on the EP, I think. Fall in love. Plan your future. Screw it up. Try and fail to bury the bad memories. Rinse and repeat. That’s what this song is about.

CV: This is the first song in years that I’ve written for Belle Haven where the start of the chorus starts on the offbeat of the previous bar. Originally the song didn’t have that reverse guitar effect at the start of the song. Mara (Daniel Marinakis, guitar) really wanted there to be some kind of effected intro, he messed around on my PC for like five minutes and came up with that effect and I ended up running it through the verses.

NOBODY LIKES A HOSPITAL

David: The journey to NLAH becoming the lead single on the EP was curious. We genuinely couldn’t decide what we should lead with; every song had its own magic. We put it to a vote this one came through on top, only just. One of my favourite sections on the whole EP is in this song. The second verse is so riffy and the vocal melody is very fun to sing. In terms of what the song is about, you could chalk it down to one word really; hopeless. When life is so awful you can’t see any silver lining anymore. Doesn’t matter how much people try to pull you out of it, it’s all powerless to your pain.

CV: It’s funny as this was one of my least favourite songs off the record. When we did the voting process for our singles, I put this as second least likely to be a single. I got severely outvoted on that one. When we got the programming back from Callan and Tommy, I fell in love with the pulsing synth in the middle breakdown section and knew I had to make it sit on top more than the other programming throughout the record.

HOPELESS. EMPTY. LONELY. PAINFUL. 

David: Life is long and painful and seems to get worse with each day. So, we wrote a song about it.

CV: Mara got me into this band This Will Destroy You years ago and I’d always wanted to do some atmospheric guitar layered track like their music, but I wanted vocals over the top of it, like this track. After the first chorus it just felt like it should drop to nothing, then I had the idea to do a similar long extended build up like there is in Death Cab For Cutie’s epic track Transatlanticism.

STRANGER MEMORIES 

David: I think this may have been close second for lead single, actually. So much energy, and a dash of snark. We had a lot of fun writing this one, I remember CV pitching this idea for a section in the middle of the song that sort of throws back to the kind of music we used to write when we were kids and we all really enjoyed it so we kept it in there.

CV: When I wrote that middle section the guys were like, “Eehhh, it sounds too early 2000s metalcore and kind of outdated and same-y." So just messing around on the guitar I was like, “You mean shit like this?” And just fiddled with some notes in the scale. Turns out it’s exactly what they wanted, haha.

Time Changes Nothing is out this Friday. Find out more about it here.