Hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, pop punk band Halfway Down debuted their first single ’Fool’s Gold’ at the start of this year. Inspired by bands such as blink-182 and A Day to Remember, the band describes themselves as “a mix of the best parts of midwest emo, pop punk and sprinkles of easycore”. The three piece band, Blake (lead vocals/guitar), Shawn (guitar/vocals) and Cameron (drums) released their newest single ‘Buried’ on the 18th of October.
The track opens with a thirty second instrumental introduction that consists of heavy drums, bass and electric guitar. If this was a live gig, the moshpit surely would have started right away. The instruments do, however, carve space for the lead singer’s vocals in the first verse. From the pre-chorus onwards, the drums kick back in, faster and faster, building up to an explosive chorus. “I’ve been buried under stress and regret,” the lyrics go. As stated by the band, mental health and overcoming internal struggles is one of their main themes in their music in general, which is definitely shown in this track. However, they also state that becoming the best version of oneself is important, and the chorus ends with the line “I haven’t given up yet.” Despite the stress, despite wishing to be dead, life is still worth it.
The second verse, pre-chorus and chorus follow a similar structure to the first. Afterwards, however, the loudness decreases a lot, making room for the strumming of the guitar and snapping of fingers to build up to the bridge. This starts off rather quiet, but soon the drums kick in. “Sometimes I scare myself with the things I think and the things I do,” the singer screams out before the instruments go back to their intensity once more. This bridge is definitely the climax of the song and includes raw screamo vocals and great instrumentals. One more chorus can be heard after, before the song’s outro takes a different direction altogether. An almost orchestral sound of strings takes over for the final thirty-ish seconds. Unexpected, but very unique and it works so well.
All in all, ‘Buried’ is a fresh pop punk anthem. It is clearly inspired by the bands mentioned before, and may also remind one of acts such as Neck Deep, yet it is also very modern. The band have been teasing to be working on a debut album, and if this is what one can expect from it, it will surely be great – both in the studio as well as live.
Written by: Mandy Huibregtsen
Edited by: Ilse Muis
