TEME, the duo of JJ Hodari and Bo Morgan, have today released their new four track offering, HA LF. It’s a deeply personal release for the pair, as they explain:
“Each song on this EP comprises of two main sections. We want each song to be a journey for the listener, but with repetition that grounds them. The record is a synthesis of sounds and recordings of where we have been living in the last 18 months, which includes the beautiful Ludlow (our main base), the West Coast of Ireland, London and Manchester. Some of it was recorded in the solace of lockdown, and some recorded in the beautiful Baltic Studios in Haggerston.”
HA LF is an exploration of relationships – or being one half of them – and is conceptually constructed in two parts, with the first two tracks being about romantic relationships and the latter being about friendships. With the songs “HA LF” and “DEF CON” having been out for a while, we thought we’d spotlight another EP highlight, “HR”.
Opening with twinkling keys that evoke midnight musings, on “HR” we hear Hodari’s tender voice as he expresses his tangled emotions with piercing pain and truth. He gives an overview of the cracks appearing in his relationship, but also the desperation to hold it all together. As “HR” kicks into its next gear with booming beats, gaseous backing vocals and prismatic synths, the mood shifts, but the worries remain the same. Despite this, this injection of energy in “HR” seems to double down on Hodari’s determination to hold this love together, to do more than simply paper over the cracks – to become a better, bolder, more honest person. His falsetto cries of “Heaven help me” at the song’s conclusion are the peak of confliction – and are entirely warranted in this powerful piece.
Listen to “HR” below, or find the whole of the HA LF EP on Youtube and Spotify.
