Florida-founded indie-rock outfit The Hails is striking the match on a new chapter with the release of two new suave tracks “Breathless” and “Exonerate.” If this is the first you’ve heard of these grooving peddlers of buoyant melodies and guitar-driven anthems, then your next stop after sinking into their newest tracks is their recent EP Alive in Strange Ways. A fitting culmination of the band’s growth over the last few years since its fateful and somewhat coincidental inception within the Miami high school music scene where Robbie Kingsley, Franco Solari, Dylan McCue, Andre Escobar, and Zach Levy all met.
Their two newest songs point to further evolutions in that band’s sublimely eclectic indie influences. On “Breathless,” they weave stuttering guitar lines into a funk-filled melody that doubles as a tongue-in-cheek love song: “Well I would have to say / It’s evident that this won’t work over time.” But caught up in the swell of radiance that emanates from the song’s sunny tones and textures, “Breathless” reveals all the ways infatuation can cloud the best judgment. “She takes all my money / She never remembers to call,” they sing before confessing, “She still leaves me breathless.” There’s also a stripped version of the track that the band shared that grounds all the sad allure of the song in Kingsley’s glowing vocals.
The other new track “Exonerate” hitches itself to the kind of elastic rhythms that The Hails have increasingly perfected. Ornamenting their driving indie-rock with dreamy flourishes and spritely backing electronica. At its core, the song is a dribbling attempt to knock some sense into the friend dealing with a shitty partner. “I’m out of luck, you’re out of time / You said he’d call, he must’ve lied,” Kingsley coyly sings at the song’s onset.
Be sure to also listen to their two EPs Alive in Strange Ways and debut He Seems Upset. Standouts on both include the disco-winding tracks “Fake a Frown” and the slow-burning laid-back chiller “Till I See You Again,” as well as the first track off the latter “Sippin’ on the Daylight” for a prime example of The Hails hard to pin love of retro soundscapes.
Visit The Hails on their website, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to “Breathless” and “Exonerate” two new songs from The Hails below!
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate and pay our staff. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
