Just months after their debut single, Melbourne duo Harves are back again with ‘The River’, a brooding product of the year that has been.
Most people would agree that this year has been something of a wash, with a lack of gigs and the chance to experience music the way it’s supposed to be experienced putting something of a dampener on things. However, global pandemic or not, the arrival of Melbourne’s Harves means that this year hasn’t been a total write-off after all.
Sharing their debut single back in early September, the pair (consisting Samuel K Sproull and Matthew Wright) soon found themselves finding an audience thanks to their atmospheric musicianship, and striking songwriting. Now, they’re back with their next single ‘The River’, with its powerful, immersive nature proving that they’re on track to be one of the most talked-about names in Aussie music in no time.
Pairing a delicate mix of production and keys with a bed of stunning vocals, ‘The River’ was written and recorded by the band members’ respective homes during the Victorian lockdown, borrowing inspiration from a sense of isolation and yearning to give rise to this gorgeous tune.
“‘The River’ comes from the deep end of lockdown, after realising we were gonna be stuck inside for a while we committed ourselves to using the time to sort out a workflow that meant we could finish a bunch of new material that was hovering about,” the pair explain.
“We weren’t planning on releasing our first single (‘Do Your Worst’) until after lockdown either, but it got picked up for a movie and sorta forced our hand. It’s been nice to develop some focus around these songs and get them finished instead of constantly throwing paint at the canvas.”
Undoubtedly a timely song for the year that has been, tracks like ‘The River’ (and, by extension, ‘Do Your Worst’) have proven that Australia’s musical scene is so strong and resilient that even in the darkest moments, something truly beautiful can emerge.
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“The song follows that theme a bit lyrically as well – feeling like you’re always looking for the answer to a problem that seems unsolvable,” they continue.
“It’s a bit of a metaphor about being creatures of habit, good and bad. About not making changes even though you know what you need to do and hoping that one day the answer will present itself. In our case specifically I guess that answer was to start releasing some songs and let that dictate change.”
While it remains to be seen what the future holds for Harves, the likes of ‘The River’ indicates that there’s a blindingly bright future ahead of them, with even more good things set to come. ‘The River’ will be officially released this Friday, November 20th, but if you can’t wait that long, simply give it a sneaky listen below!
Check out ‘The River’ by Harves:
