The Median Man spoke with Jennifer Haben, vocalist for Beyond the Black about the new album.
The Median Man spoke with Jennifer Haben, vocalist for Beyond the Black about the new album.
TIME
What’s changed since the last album?
I think what changed the most with recording this album was that we had a lot of time to write songs, I think we had about six months to write, so we had a lot of time to try things out. This also gave us a lot of time to experiment as well. With the last album we didn’t really experiment that much, so this time it was refreshing to have a chance to experiment more and test ourselves, especially with the introduction of some more electronic elements.
With regards to the writing process, were there any sort of themes that you explored deliberately or was it just whatever sparked inspiration?
We wanted to detail the story of the band and to show how we got to where we are now. With the new album we wanted to break out of a bubble that we had in our minds, and deal with the issue of whether we wanted to change our style somewhat and develop as a band or not. Consequently, the first song we wrote entitled “Misery,” was so different to what we’d written before that it sort of broke us free from everything we’d done before. Now, we think it might be something for the fans as well, something to help them break free.
BREAK FREE
BREAK FREE
With regards to the writing process, were there any sort of themes that you explored deliberately or was it just whatever sparked inspiration?
We wanted to detail the story of the band and to show how we got to where we are now. With the new album we wanted to break out of a bubble that we had in our minds, and deal with the issue of whether we wanted to change our style somewhat and develop as a band or not. Consequently, the first song we wrote entitled “Misery,” was so different to what we’d written before that it sort of broke us free from everything we’d done before. Now, we think it might be something for the fans as well, something to help them break free.
DIFFERENT
Could you talk through why you decided to release “Misery,” and “Golden Pariah,” as the first two singles?
It shows the different sort of styles that we’ve adapted. “Golden Pariahs,” sounds very different to “Misery,” and we’ve always loved releasing songs one after another that sound different to one another. Because we as a band want to surprise people, not to overwhelm them but to change their expectations. So, that’s why we did it, because it’s different to what came before and different to what will come next.
WOUNDER HEALER
What’s your favourite song on the new album?
That’s a difficult one, as I absolutely love the album. I think it’s the best album we’ve done so far. Songs like “Wounded Healer,” and “I Won’t Surrender,” and to have this amazing feature with Tina Guo and with Elize Ryd, which I think will be great for the fans to hear.
WOUNDED HEALER
What’s your favourite song on the new album?
That’s a difficult one, as I absolutely love the album. I think it’s the best album we’ve done so far. Songs like “Wounded Healer,” and “I Won’t Surrender,” and to have this amazing feature with Tina Guo and with Elize Ryd, which I think will be great for the fans to hear.
BIG IMPACT
How has the coronavirus impacted you?
Well it’s had a big impact, there are positives and negatives to it. On the positive side, it’s given us a chance to be home for an extended period, which is a rarity nowadays, and it’s allowed me to get into some deeper thought. It’s also enabled us to get really creative and help one another, one of the reasons we decided against postponing the release of the album is because people need new music, and we wanted to help them through this time. We’ve also been doing some tutorials for our older songs and interacting more with the fans.
On the other hand, we’re not able to play live and connect with people through our shows. It’s also sort of thrown our plans out, so we’re trying to reconfigure and find out when we can tour again.