First Day Of Spring unleashes their second EP ‘Be My Hospital’

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Four-piece band First Day of Spring seek to experiment between art and melody, their sound offering catharsis and solace. Drawing from both post-punk influences and the alternative scene of 1990s USA, their authenticity, balanced with melancholic beauty has seen them garner attention across music media, radio and press. Their most recent release is their second EP Be My Hospital, anticipated after the success of their debut Fly Over Apple Blossom.

The project starts with the steady drums and distorted bass of ‘You’re Blue, I’m Blue’, pitted against a twinkling, forlorn electric guitar melody. The unsettled nature of the track is continued in the vocals, as their rises to the repeating hook feel melancholic, almost revelling in their own angst.

‘The Rising Tide’ is next, adding a more energetic alternative feel, but keeping a self-fulfilling sense of righteous indignation at the centre of its tone. The synth and guitar melodies are a break from this discord, the brightness a painkiller, not a cure.

Then, ‘Old World’ breaks into a new environment, the heavier use of piano arpeggios changing the overall feel to something brighter and more hopeful. The fuzzy, high-pitched synth pads echo this sentiment, even the vocal coming out into the sun for the first time. The final track, ‘On Monday’, takes the hurt, and finds a silver lining, returning to the distorted fury, but reserving it in a wistful, forward-looking thematic journey. A hazy, elemental and slightly ethereal tone adds a layer of sweetness. Still not quite accepting the present, but finding hope in the future, the creative boundary is broken, and the EP sees its end.

First Day Of Spring dive into the project:  Some of the themes running through songs like On Monday and Be My Hospital are centred around being a visual artist and songwriter and feeling profoundly disillusioned in your creative practice when figuring out whether or not the work is the most enjoyable part of it or that real success is to never have to work a day in your life. Meanwhile observing every other artist simultaneously going into that process and everything that comes with it.

Whereas You’re Blue I’m Blue is predominantly about tribes and ultimately the ability for those tribes to co-exist harmoniously and be among each other in the present. The partnership vocally with dear friend and vocal lead Mariah Maines has been a key part of the evolution of the song re-imagination.

The last track on the E.P., Old World was chosen based on its buoyancy. Having a song mainly about all the things we took for granted during COVID-19 as the last song on the EP gives me a lot of positive emotions surrounding those things. There is a reference in that song to a granite obelisk dated to 1836 or 1837, marking the eastern boundary of the City of London’s conservancy jurisdiction over the River Thames. The crowstone is at the bottom of my road and always reminds me of home. When COVID-19 came to an end it meant we could all hang out at the beach again so when I hear that song I think of that specific time and it feels hopeful.”

Plus Music PR