Early Eyes Share New Track “Halloween '18”
Just in time for spooky season, Minneapolis band Early Eyes have released “Halloween 18,” from their forthcoming debut album Look Alive! on February 25 via Epitaph Records. The track is the perfect indie-pop dance track to get down with your fellow ghouls on Halloween night.
“We made ‘Halloween 18’ because we wanted to make the next Halloween chart-topping single, influenced by Ari Aster, James Wan, Sasquatch, and a zombie with no conscience.” Explains vocalist Jake Berglove. “We wrote the majority of the song in memoriam of the ghost of a Halloween party that happened in 2017, but ‘Halloween Seventeen’ wasn’t the right amount of syllables. That was a particularly impactful evening as it was when we all met our good friend Tenebrion Soul Swallower who is definitely not behind me making me write this press release. I hope you’re well and H̸̩͑Ȁ̴͓Ḯ̶̟L̵̰̈́ ̵̻̄T̵̞̈́E̴̮̿N̴͐͜É̵̱B̶̘̈́R̴͓̍I̶͕͌O̷͍͒N̶͓͝ 6̷̙̄6̶͙̃6̸͖̕6̷͌͜6̴̖̚k̷̤̋i̶̤̽l̸̛̹l̵̜̍ḇ̵̅i̷̦͘l̵̙̉l̸͇̈́į̵̚o̴̦̿ṇ̵͊a̷͉͝i̵̹̕ȓ̸͍e̴͔͘s̵͖̑6̵͖̌6̶͙͝6̸̥̀6̴͈̃6̵̯̀e̷̢̾ǎ̴̘t̷́͜t̶͛ͅḧ̵̭́e̸̥͆r̷̲̓i̶̪͒c̸̟͌ḣ̵̲6̴͉̾3̸̟͒8̸̨̒;̷̪̇g̶̩̈́d̴͈͊k̷̛
ë̴̡́ơ̴̞t̸̰̆h̸͖̓ẃ̷̱h̶̳͋6̶̛̼6̸͈͗6̵̭̈́6̶̆͜k̷̥͊i̷͇͝l̶͔̃l̶̗̾t̵͇̃h̷̖̆ẽ̶̖m̴͝ͅa̸͂ͅl̶͈͠l̷̠͆6̴̖̐6̸̡͊6̷̹͝6̷͔͛ḩ̸̿s̵̖͆h̷͇͘d̵̲̔g̶̢͌d̸̰̏b̴͓͒6̸͉͝6̸̢̀6̴͕̉6̶̪͋””
Produced by Caleb Hinz (Hippo Campus, Samia) and Jake Luppen of Hippo Campus, Look Alive! looks ahead to a post-genre future where emo, post-hardcore, Japanese city pop, and musical theater can coexist peacefully on one album.
Early Eyes signed to Epitaph Records in January 2020 and put out their first singles with the label that march—just as the pandemic brought the entire music industry screeching to a halt. As weeks turned into months, and as their city of Minneapolis imploded in a catastrophic moment of fury, grief, and protest, the band alternated between doing what they could to support mutual aid efforts and holing up in the studio to channel their complicated emotions into song.
“It almost feels like Look Alive! is a direct response to the pandemic,” vocalist Jake Berglove reflects. “We took all of that anxiety and angry energy and put it into making a really fucked up album.” But at the same time, “The album was not just an expression of all of our frustrations, but also an escape from it,” adds guitarist Joe Villano.