Source: Album Artwork
Alternative rock quintet Halflives threw themselves onto our radar last September with the release of their debut single ‘Mayday’. The band, hailing from Italy, have since crowdfunded their way to their debut album Empty Rooms, which is due for release on April 14th.
The album, which took 18 months to complete, is a collection of eight finely tuned tracks. Vocalist Linda Battliani says the album is a result of hard work and introspection. “Each song is a different empty room where I’ve let my feelings flow, you can visit them all and find a piece of us in each of them, a story, in each of them,” she said.
Empty Rooms eases us in with ‘Lone Wolf’, a dark, gritty, synth-heavy opener. The track underlays Battliani’s melodies with very carefully considered production. It’s a compelling technique, and it brings an edge to Halflives’ quintessentially alt. rock vibe.
By the time we get to ‘Burn’ it’s clear that vocals are at the heart of Empty Rooms. The track is anthemic, with simple, understated musicality emphasizing the power of Battaliani’s vocals. At points, this breaches into Eurovision territory—with loud, echoing notes—but the band recover it quickly with inventive production.
It’s this synth-fuelled production that makes Empty Rooms so endearing. ‘Empty Room’, ‘The Sickness’ and ‘Collide’ show Halflives at their strongest, with the former possessing an intensity reminiscent of PVRIS.
‘Collide’ closes their debut with an atmospheric take on alternative rock. The track starts off slow, kicking back with a stripped-down, acoustic sound. It slowly builds into a pseudo-ballad which would feel most at home on a Halsey album.
Halflives have clearly worked hard on Empty Rooms. It’s synth-heavy and technically flawless, with Battliani showing off exactly just how skilled a vocalist she is. There’s room for them to be more inventive in their musicality, perhaps tuning down the production to let more organic sounds peek through.
But it takes years of experimentation for a band to reach a sound that suits them entirely, and Halflives have got decades ahead of them.
