Real Estate released the underrated The Main Thing last year, but they’re back again already with plans for a new six-track EP called Half A Human which arrives on March 26 via Domino. Built up through file exchanges during the pandemic, the new songs find the band in a reflective state, with Martin Courtney saying:
“Life keeps changing and additional responsibilities and stresses keep being added, but this band is still here. When I was writing a lot of these songs, I was feeling a little weird about being in a band. Like, ‘how is this still a thing?’ I was feeling silly about it and then coming around to it at the same time. This is what we’re good at and it’s what we love to do and want to keep doing. I don’t want to do anything else.”
“Half A Human” has been a live staple for a while, even though it’s a dissociative reflection of what life on the road is like. Having been built up and recorded during a time when they were off the road, the final studio version converts those numb feelings into something closer to nostalgia – having had their wheels spinning for so long, Real Estate suddenly find themselves missing that constant motion. What’s more, this means of writing apart seems to have let the band unspool and loosen up a little bit, and “Half A Human” stretches on to six minutes of golden and gliding guitar interplay, with Julian Lynch and Alex Bleeker both letting their instruments sing as they weave in and out of Courtney’s. A glowing visage of life on a long highway, “Half A Human” is a return to the best of Real Estate, capturing fleeting feelings in a postcard-perfect sound.
You can stream “Half A Human” here or watch the video directed by FISK below.
Real Estate’s Half A Human EP arrives on March 26 via Domino, and there’ll be a limited edition of 1000 12″ physical copies, which you can pre-order here.
