Rhythms are pleased to premiere the brand new video for Queensland alt-country group Halfway.
‘The Palace’ is the first taste of Halfway’s new album The Styx. A concept album of sorts, it’s situated in a remote Australian coastal town and explores themes of family, isolation, love, and betrayal. As songwriter John Busby explains, quite a few of the songs threaded through it are informed by his own personal experiences, and ‘The Palace’ is one of those.
“Growing up, my family would spend time at Stanage Bay in Central Queensland which is a small fishing village situated to the South East of the Styx River. It was a remote and beautiful place,” reflects Busby.
“One year on the drive up, I bought a cassette copy of the album The Queen Is Dead, by The Smiths, for $6 at Kmart Rockhampton. There were hundreds of copies of that cassette on the shelves. I figured that it hadn’t gone so well here in Australia, so there was probably something good about it. I played it as the sun went down over the mangroves at Clairview Beach. It felt like it was a letter addressed directly to the teenage me,” he reveals. “Something from another world, reaching out to even the most remote of places. It was a valuable lesson in the power of music and art, and the location made it even more memorable. Sometimes, living in small towns the future can seem restricted and narrow. But the messages I received from this record told me otherwise.” explains Busby.
“So ‘The Palace’ pays homage to The Smiths and to dreaming even in the most remote places. It’s a song for the outliers and people living in the margins.”
The Styx is available for pre-order from Plus One Records.