Homes At Night and the melancholy and madness of "Help You Unpack"

 

"I wish you the, you reach into my chest, and took out what you want and gave me what was left..."


I love anti love songs and I think "Help You Unpack" by Homes At Night is one. I could be wrong (I am wrong quite a bit) but that is what I am feeling. One thing is for sure, this kind of inside out emo song by the duo of Hank Compton and Aksel Coe is wildly different than anything you will hear. In it's construction it is a million miles away from your standard verse chorus verse verse chorus bridge chorus (do songs even contain bridges anymore??), no more like a universe away. In fact it doesn't really have a chorus and you could say it is comprised of 6 lines of prose that move in a linear fashion, have patterned melodies and then ramps up into an explosive, angry musical imagining. A musical screaming session that mirrors how someone would bloody wail as a result of the story contained within those 6 beautiful melancholy lines. A cathartic ending to a story not fully told.  

Yeah, I know my description is totally lacking. It is a song (is it a song?) that you have to experience. I do utterly love the simplicity of the first half and adore the vocal aesthetic and harmonies. I love the powerful explosions too and the dense musicality of it all (and the tonal quality of that lead guitar). Love this. 

yip yip hooray

-Robb Donker Curtius

 

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://www.instagram.com/homesatnight/

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Y2r5VvaDui5ek95ytQnrI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRD0Qvl-QNA


Homes At Night — made up of songwriters Hank Compton and Aksel Coe — create alternative pop/rock anthems that blur the boundaries between genre and generation. It's a sound that's both nostalgic and modern, layered with organic instruments, synth-driven soundscapes, cinematic hooks, and a percussive pulse. On their debut EP, If You Were a Stranger (out later this year), the bandmates blend their indie sensibilities with story-driven songcraft, nodding to their Nashville roots while simultaneously pushing far beyond them.


Created during the global pandemic that brought both musicians' schedules to a halt, If You Were a Stranger began as a series of pressure-free recording sessions in Coe's basement. Free to indulge their musical whims, they pieced together an EP about dying relationships, new beginnings, and catharsis, bouncing between bombastic anthems and hushed, Elliot Smith-worthy indie pop. Featuring production from Grammy nominee JT Daly, If You Were a Stranger turns the uncertainty of the modern moment — a time when Hank and Aksel found themselves homebound, unable to make a living as touring musicians — into a new kind of stability. It's music for the heart and the head, created by two songwriters who bring their own palette to the grey area between genres.

Homes At Night, alt rock, indie rock, folk indie, art rock, emo, shoegaze, blendo, surprising, smashing, bloody hell, singer songwriters, musicians, Hank Compton and Aksel Coe,