A standout off The Homicide Capital’s third album Blindness, “A Distant Life” is a young, succinct, and strikingly relatable reflection on distance, longing, and the quiet sacrifices we make for love and livelihood.
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Stream: “A Distant Life” – The Homicide Capital
Sometimes, it’s the less complicated issues that catch you considering.
On an album that bristles with adroit poetic traces, and speaker-shattering guitar riffs, one track that leaps out of the tracklist is “A Distant Life” – the fourth single from Blindness, the newest document from The Homicide Capital (launched February 21, 2025 through Human Seasons Data). Its easy guitar work and ultra-catchy melodies are instantly beneficial on the primary hear, and the lyrics scan completely with not one syllable misplaced. This track is about being other than somebody for too lengthy, and the daydreams and ideas you could have about them when you already know you’re not going to see them for some time longer.
It’s a candy and susceptible piece on an album of trustworthy songwriting, and was fittingly written whereas the band have been touring. Maybe the decidedly un-romantic setting of a UK service station was what impressed James McGovern to write down the preliminary phrases that might grow to be “A Distant Life.” These mundane settings are prime fodder for thought and introspection. Gazing a beige wall, ready for a delayed flight, sitting in the identical spot for hours on finish. It takes your mind to completely different locations.
The salt style of your mouth
The small pockets of affection
The second I catch you
Come on high like a dove
That “salt style” line got here from a Margaret Atwood poem, an inspiration that McGovern has been eager to level out. It’s the spark that began the hearth. There’s one thing concerning the emotions of uncooked intimacy this verse evokes which is basically hanging. But it surely’s additionally heat and delicate – there’s no lust on this track, it’s purer than that.
It’s a thought that comes from a thoughts that’s already had three cups of espresso earlier than 10 AM, a sober reflection on how the trials of being in a band can have an effect on private relationships. It’s about lacking somebody in that calm, unhappy means that isn’t within the scope of an argument or a relationship failing, simply – “I actually want you have been right here proper now.”
The worth we pay for connection
In a distant life
The prospect of constructing a residing
Or loving night time after night time
We exist at some extent in historical past the place you may insult somebody 10 time zones away immediately as you kill them in chilly blood on Name of Responsibility, however real connection can appear additional away than it’s ever been.
This a part of the verse weighs up the sacrifices we make day by day – whether or not a manufacturing facility shift employee or a celebrated rock star, all of us find yourself doing issues that take us away from those we love. However what else are you able to do? Whether or not you’re employed 60 hours every week or spend all day in mattress together with your girlfriend, the hire nonetheless wants paying.
The Homicide Capital is a collaborative effort, and the band are cautious to verify every member will get their full credit score on this album. Nonetheless it’s clear that “A Distant Life” is a product of McGovern’s partnership with guitarist Damien Tuit. The construction of the track was written just by Tuit altering his twin chord sample to suit the cadence and supply of McGovern’s vocals. The whole lot was constructed from there and apparently “A Distant Life” was written swiftly from that time. It’s a cleaner, much less busy sound than most different songs by the band, as they typically desire to coat the observe with refrain, reverb, and big snare hits. This makes you sit up and take discover every time the track begins enjoying – It’s completely different.
It’s notable that though your entire track is written in a primary rhyming construction, “A Distant Life” doesn’t really feel drained or tacky.
It’s in truth very tough to write down on this fashion and never come off like some hammy, reduced-to-clear sentiment on the final card within the retailer at 7pm on February 14th. When carried out in addition to this, it assures that the punchiness of the quick traces are surpassed solely by how catchy and memorable the phrases are. This lyrical financial system is an element and parcel of The Homicide Capital’s attraction. This track, like many others on the album, clocks in at effectively underneath three minutes, however it doesn’t really feel like something is left unsaid.
With all that mentioned
No phrase’s in useless
A distant love
Is price its weight in ache
“Succinct” shall be a phrase I’m positive shall be used liberally to explain this observe, and certainly many different singles from The Homicide Capital. In 17 phrases, your entire track is summed up. It’s painful to be away from somebody so necessary for therefore lengthy. However McGovern is profiting from it – The sheer existentialism in declaring a long-term separation out of your companion as being “price it” for the longing you endure is as stark as it’s stunning. This neatly ties all the pieces up. The utilitarian partitions of the petrol station have given delivery to those feelings, this craving for affection. At some point he’ll have that again, however for now, the one factor he can do is wait it out, maybe ship them a WhatsApp love word and get to the following venue for soundcheck.
The ultimate phrases, nearly unintelligible within the combine – “we’re alright” – might be a self-reassuring phrase, one among weary acceptance, or from his companion themselves.
It means that it is a state of affairs that the connection has fought by way of many occasions earlier than, and can inevitably rear it’s head once more within the close to future. What’s so charming about “A Distant Life” is that it captures a sense we’re all acquainted with; it’s an actual slice-of-life within the midst of intense stanzas and complicated emotional items.
This potential to steadiness the profound and the mundane, together with the popularity that they’re equally necessary, is on the core of The Homicide Capital’s ethos.
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Stream: “A Distant Life” – The Homicide Capital
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