Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Hayden Calnin has just dropped a new EP today, Soon Forever.
Continuing his organic melding of folk and electronica, Soon Forever is an atmospheric and evocative listen from start to finish. Calnin is renowned for his production skills, and once again on Soon Forever he delivers a beautifully layered collection of songs.
The AU review are thrilled to present an exclusive track by track rundown of the EP by Calnin.
Give the EP a play and read on as Hayden Calnin describes each track:
“We Can Take Our Time”
This track is a little more upbeat to my usual tone, but the song is about reconnecting and it needed the feeling to follow that. I wanted it to feel uplifting and exciting by the time it came to its end.
“Unfortunate Love (ft Harrison Storm)”
I had been sitting on the music for this for a few months, and wasn’t sure if I could come up with anything lyrically to feel right, so I put my feelers out and got Harrison Storm on board. I sent him the song with next to no guidance and said ‘just send me some gibberish back and see if you vibe it’ or something quite casual along those lines. As soon as Harrison sent me something back, we jumped straight in the studio and didn’t leave till we had it written and finished. Helps when the collaborator is your housemate too!
“Mountain Steeps”
I wanted the song to feel like a long walk, up a big hill and to finally reach the top of it. It took so many different forms throughout its creation, I probably said it was finished four or five times before completely re-recording the whole song. It has ended up being my favourite on the EP, I think purely because I didn’t give up on it like I do so many others.
“As I Exit Parts I & II”
The oldest song of the EP. I wrote this back when I was making A Life You Would Choose, but it never felt right on my previous EP. I had a recording which was finished of the song but I wanted to re-imagine it to suit Soon Forever. So I started it again from the bottom up and it ended up becoming a two-part song. I was exploring baritone guitars a lot at the time and really wanted to showcase it on one of the songs on the EP. Now I’m obsessed with baritone guitars. Actually obsessed. I’ve bought three since. Yep, love them.
Soon Forever is out now.
Follow Hayden Calnin on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and his website.
Photo credit: Emma McEvoy.
