Part retro, part human, part film and part hopeless romantic is the only way to describe artist Elvis Perkins latest offering, “Half Life.”
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The song rolls out Perkins’ first full-length since 2017 when he wrote the soundtrack for The Blackcoat’s Daughter, a film directed by his brother, Osgood. The forthcoming LP, titled Creation Myths is set to release October 2 via MIR/Petaluma Records.
“’The Half Life’ is a song about being not all there, or rather here,” Perkins told American Songwriter. “A life at half mast, half-hearted, marked half off. It seems to me as though a good deal of people one encounters, myself historically included, are moving around this way. Needless to say, it’s tempting to seek wholeness teaming up with another human who may be experiencing the same. Part love song, part algebraic nursery rhyme, part existential crisis.”
“How these songs found their ways out of the void and into full form is near-mysterious to me now as how we all showed up on this earth,” the songwriter said. “I’m satisfied enough with what a garden ouroboros suggested, that each song is telling the creation myth of its own existence. The full spectrum technicolor presentation of them certainly owes a lot to the great Sam Cohen who produced and provided the low end. I will leave the big picture at that for now.”
The single boasts country twang and a longing for love, united with pristine clarity from Perkins vocals. The emotive storytelling in the lyrics suggest Perkins intimate ties to the song, while taking a hard look into hidden perspectives from the human mind based on unifying experiences.
Perkins skills in narrative style writing are indeed connected to his background in film, where he has worked previously as a composer, writing scores for films such as Netflix’s I Am the Pretty Thing the Lives in the House in 2016 in addition to The Blackcoat’s Daughter. Perkins was also participating in a Beth Morrison Productions theater piece, titled Home, which was a project headed by his old friend, Geoff Sobelle. The production that premiered at Philly Fringe Arts was slated for an international tour through 2021, until the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world and all things creative.
The artist’s music career has been equally consistent and busy too. Creation Myths will be Perkins’ fourth album, and follows I Aubade from 2015, Elvis Perkins In Dearland LP and his Doomsday EP both in 2009 which peaked on Billboard charts, all plunged into success by his debut album Ash Wednesday in 2007.Perkins also rings in an initial triumph for Creation Myths when previous single “Anonymous,” the closing track, was featured on NPR’s “New Music Friday” playlist and received praise from the likes of Uproxx, while landing on their “Best New Music This Week” list.
“Half Life” is available today on American Songwriter and streaming platforms everywhere including Apple Music and Spotify, where you can also pre-save Creation Myths for October 2. Due to current affairs, Perkins has also pledged to donate one dollar for every album sold via his artist webpage to the Equal Justice Initiative.
