A trio-band that could be grouped under alternative music with its off-beat 70s style, but with a touch of electric, disco-funk and indie beats, it’s hard to pin half•alive down to any one thing. Surfacing in 2016 from Long Beach, California the three members of half•alive; Josh Taylor (frontman), J Tyler Johnson (base) and Brett Kramer (drums) realised their first full album in 2019, under the title Now, Not Yet – another memorable oxymoron.
This wit along with an existential feeling, is continued into the album’s videos, whether with invisible boundaries, shrinking rooms, questions, blank stares, and more than anything – trademark dance moves. The likes of which can only be compared to the sci-fi drama show The OA, but in Still Feel it’s taken a step further and its colour palette introduces a strong Wes Anderson vibe. A video to truly chill out and relax to, but only if your body can resist copying the angled dance moves of frontman Josh Taylor, who also directed the video.
Taylor’s strong use of colour (enough that it fills the room) is something he’s employed before in half•alive’s 2017 music video Aawake at Night. But in Still Feel when the LED ceiling loses all colour, the clothes, mic, and drumsticks take on the initial and prevalent colour of amber, before returning to a much plainer white. Psychological-cinematography? I’ll leave that for someone else to decide.
Other songs by half•alive we love:
- arrow (2019 – Now, Not Yet)
- Maybe (2019 – Now, Not Yet)
- ok ok? (2019 – Now, Not Yet)
- RUNAWAY (2019 – Now, Not Yet)
- Aawake at Night (2017 – 3)
Other artists you might like:
- Cavetown
- HUNNY
- I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
- twenty one pilots
