News - House & Home, Suntitle

Long time friends House & Home and Suntitle are thrilled to share Split, a four song collaboration out now via Open Your Ears Records.

Read through for an album review!

Photo credit | House & Home: credit Elyza Reinhart | Subtitle: credit Carlisle Jones

 
 

EP Review from Donovan Bryant insomnia music mag Journalist

Split is released by Open Your Ears Records in the same vein as “Deep Six”, in the sense of bringing like-minded bands together for a brief showcase. Richmond natives, House & Home team up with long time close friends, Suntitle, to bring this four track EP together in one package. Detailing two songs from each band, this release offers a view into what each band has to offer, to those unfamiliar and also to satiate the hunger of their ever-growing fan base.

Not one to start the show slow, the song, Cellophane, launches with power and deals with the very relatable feeling of not fitting in. The narrator starts the lyrics out by detailing trouble sleeping, possibly even having insomnia*, needing chaos to feel somewhat baseline after finding out that silence just doesn’t cut it. In fact, the narrator realizes that he/she is not the same person they were a younger person and coming to terms with that unsettling fact and having to pioneer new direction not knowing the destination. The song features a unique dichotomy of having music that suggests a let’s-go-get-them experience while the lyrics are more reflective and introspective.

House & Home rightfully found their sound with At the Bottom. As a whole the song has a better composition, more complete and resounding. The song’s rhythm is many things but boring it is not, with alternations of rhythm in a single verse or chorus, the music demands attention by not allowing itself become background jazz. The singer’s vocal cadence in this song feels more natural with the lyrical content which tackles with self-loathing and looking up from the pit of despair that comes with depression. But it is not entirely gloomy as one of its best moments comes in with the bridge which is wonderfully melodic; takes a breather before building back up to the powerful ending.

Like with all great music albums, the peak is near the middle followed by the conclusion, and Bad Luck, is arguably the best song on the EP. It is a little on the short side but that is also so it doesn’t outstay the welcome like some songs are want to do. Bad Luck starts off with a sludging bass intro that brings to my mind, “Would?” by AiC, but Suntitle make it sludgier and dirtier and I am all for it! The guitar riffs are heavily distorted and create a great listening experience. The lyrics flew over this listener’s head, however, while nothing is set in stone, they seem to be a smidge ambiguous, directing it to be heard, interpreted, and believed to be different things to different people.

Split ends not with a whisper but with a bang! Coming in right over two and half minutes, At Your Feet brings meaning to the name of the Extended Play it lives on. Half of the track, both verses, tonally is like a speeding bullet, not letting up; balanced by the other half, the chorus’, which is more melodic which ties into corresponding bridge masterfully creating a perfect cohesion. The breaks or gaps in the bridge goes to show that less is, in fact, more and the guitars bring more pedal work to game which is always a nice touch. Lyrically speaking, it features more of the melancholic imagery but still relatable dealing with feeling of being in a dream, reality disassociation and lost in one’s own mind.

Final Say: Split is pretty good! Starts relatively slow but ends with a barn-burner of a second breath. Been on repeat here for a few hours now. I would recommend it to anyone who likes some form of rock as it brings something for everyone to the table.