TRACK BY TRACK: Salty Season Drops Energetic Debut EP ‘Welcome To The Life’

Gold Coast-based indie rock band Salty Season dropped their debut EP, Welcome To The Life, today. It consists of three already released tracks and two brand new ones - The Life and Finger - all of which were recorded and mixed by Angus Woodhead at Glasshouse Studios.

Inspired by iconic rock bands like Powderfinger, Foo Fighters, and JET, Welcome To The Life is dynamic, with masses of energy and “a sprinkle of psychedelia”. To celebrate its release, Salty Season is taking The Music through the EP, track by track.

The Life

We wanted to start the EP strong, with plenty of energy and a huge guitar sound. Funnily enough, this was the last track we wrote for the EP, and it shows off our newer sound. It’s punchy, has plenty of drive, and goes big. Getting this track sounding as big as possible was one of our priorities when we were looking for a studio. We wanted to be able to perform as a band when we recorded, so we made a weekend of it and drove up to the Sunny Coast to Glasshouse Studios to record with Angus there. To be able to record, while performing together, was a great experience, and the energy that came from that shows on these tracks. Lyrically, it covers the trials and tribulations of modern life; taking on the challenges of life with a positive attitude is a message we want to convey. Musically, it has elements of classic rock, a little bit of the Foo Fighters, and a sprinkle of psychedelia.

Dump & Burn

Dump & Burn, affectionately known as “Dump”, was our first single off this release. It’s been out there in the world for a couple of months now, and thankfully, it has been received well! The writing process for this song started with Sticks (our lead guitarist) showing us the main riff, which has infected our brains ever since. It’s got that catchy, rocky energy that we love. Inspired by the likes of JET, this tune gave Keelan (our drummer), “big F1-11 energy”. There’s something about the riff that gives the same energy as a fighter jet setting fire to its own fuel while flying over the Goldy for the Indy 300. The lyrics are about chasing the love of someone exciting and beautiful, out of your league and they’re not afraid to let you know that you are.

Finger

Finger dials back the high octane energy of the EP - at least initially. Musically inspired by Powderfinger, it’s about giving the finger to all the bullshit life gives out, and wanting to spend time with the people that matter the most to you. As Harry (our lead vocalist) put it, “Nothing else matters at the end of the day.” It dials back the pace, but isn’t afraid to let loose instrumentally.

Lucky

Lucky is a very special song. This was originally an acoustic song Harry had written. Dedicated to his dad, Lucky is about losing someone that meant the world to you. We never get enough time with the people that matter the most to us, but we should appreciate just how lucky we ever were to get any time with them at all. When we launched this track as the final single, we launched it with a charity night for the Pancare Foundation. They do a great job for people with cancer, so we wanted to do our part, with a night of acoustic music and a charity raffle, featuring a meat tray (that our bass player, Aidan, was disappointed not to go home with). With ticket sales and proceeds from the raffle going towards our donation, we are super proud with what we accomplished. Musically, we took the original acoustic version, gave it some spiffy lead guitar and made it larger, while also respecting the meaning of the lyrics and original acoustic version. 

Everything

Rounding out the EP, we have Everything, a love song about knowing the person you’re with is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Obsessive (in a good way), you’d do anything and everything you could to share the future with them. The verse has a groovy rhythmic bass and drum part that gives us the urge to sway about, contrasted with the rhythmically very straight chorus that you’ll find us banging our heads to. Like a few of our others, this tune is very much inspired by Catfish and the Bottlemen, even though we’re still mad they cancelled their recent Brissy show. 

‘Welcome To The Life’ is out on all streaming services now. To celebrate, Salty Season is throwing a launch party at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads on November 8. Find tickets and more information here.