Today Kent emo rockers Coastline release their début mini-album, ‘Taken Under’. The six-track release captures the bands youthful energy and combines it with cinematic choruses that echo those of the likes of Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. The end result is a collection of reflective yet inspiring songs which are set to make Coastline a definite band to keep an eye on in 2013.
We recently caught up with the band who talked us through ‘Taken Under’ track-by track.
About Taken Under:
As a band we have one of the luckiest things going, our bassist Rich Bettlestone has a recording studio and is himself a recording engineer. So when we were writing our debut EP, we would do something at practice and be able to get it recorded the next day, so the idea was down. We were able to do many demos of many songs and really work on ones with the most potential. We feel these six tracks are a good introduction of ourselves.
Chapters
We felt ‘Chapters’ would really start the EP off in the right way, with a bang. With this track we wanted to write a song that had no “Power Chords”, and as a result, it really creates the uplifting sound that we were aiming for. Lyrically we thought it should match that sentiment; it’s about when you were young and had no worries, you just had fun.
Dance Alone
With this track we were aiming for a big catchy chorus that would hopefully leave people humming it hours after hearing it. It’s a fun, lighthearted song about drinking too much and dancing the night away without a care in the world.
Taken Under
This was the first song we ever wrote, and probably the hardest as this would kind of be the sound we would be. It’s about one of band member’s family and his brother, struggling with drug addiction and how it affected them, but still knowing their family will always help each other all they can. He had actually written the basics of this song about 4 years ago on his boss mini recorder.
Embers
This is simply about how Matt’s house burnt down a few days before Christmas once. It was the middle of the night and he was asleep, it had a major effect on him, but it would have been a lot worse. We had the lyrics first for this one, so it was enjoyable and interesting writing the music around them, allowing us to add to the effect of the words.
A Thousand Things
We aimed for an ambient upbeat sound that had a continual drive on this track. We had the music recorded first with a melody but no ideas for lyrics for quite a while. But listening to the track felt very uplifting, so we wanted to dedicate it to a very good friend who lost his battle with Leukemia too young, but through it all he never lost his smile. It can sometimes take extreme things to make us realize we should be living life as best we can. A true inspiration.
Riverside
This was half a song that Matt had been sitting on for years before he brought it to a practice. It is our most mellow song to date and fast became one of our favorites. It’s a track that we can’t wait to play either at a show or even on a Monday night at band practice. And we think it’s a good way to finish off the EP.
‘Taken Under’ by Coastline is available now.