On their bittersweet yet melancholic new EP, the Hails decipher the whirlwind of feelings of lust, love, woes and heartbreak.
Since their start back in 2015, The Hails have made their way into Gainesville’s music scene as college students not entirely sure where it will take them. Now, five years down the road, lead vocalist Robbie Kingsley, guitarist Dylan McCue, guitarist and back-up vocalist Franco Solari, bassist Andre Escobar and drummer Zachary Levy, have seen growth as a band with over four million Spotify streams on their first single released in 2018, “Younger.”
The Hails released their first EP, “He Seems Upset,” Tuesday. The eight-track project emerges into boundaries the band had not previously explored as they experiment with drum beats that erupt into electronic synths and the addition of Solari as a vocalist alongside Kingsley.
“I guess around the time ‘Younger’ started doing what it did, it became a shift of like, ‘Oh this is something people actually care about,’ and then personally, I started feeling like, ‘How can I make a bigger contribution?’” Solari said.
This EP is a nod to a distinctive new beginning as they head into a new direction as a band, as they’ve graduated from UF they’ve spread all over Florida and D.C., while still staying in touch with feelings of nostalgia.
“The transition from college life into adult life and all the feelings that go with that — anxieties that go with that — impacts a lot of the lyrics in the EP,” McCue said.
Unlike the heavily pop- and indie-influenced songs fans have grown to love, “Heartbeat Pt. 2,” a remix of “Heartbeat,” breaks barriers previously built by the band with the addition of synth beats, opposed to the traditional guitar strums. The song is then followed by a riveting interlude, “Flatlines,” which is a continuation of the dreamscape fantasy previously created. Listeners are snapped back into reality with the final song, “Younger.”
“It felt like a nice bow on the first era of The Hails, I guess,” Kingsley said. “This is the song that has given us any type of fighting chance as a band.”
The Hails walk listeners through their inner thoughts, aiming to captivate listeners as they take us along with them in the search of finding who they are as a band.
You can stream “He Seems Upset,” now on Spotfiy, iTunes, Apple Music and more.
The Hails, Robbie Kingsley, Dylan McCue, Franco Solari, Andre Escobar and Zachary Levy, release their first EP Tuesday.
