The Life Electric is starting out the new year with some new music! On January 6, The Life Electric released their second single, “Heartbeat,” from their upcoming LP The Real You on idobi Radio. “Heartbeat” follows the release of their single “Gone, Gone, Gone,” which premiered in early December.
The Life Electric formed in 2011, comprised of former frontman of Action Verbs Joey Chehade, and 3 of the 5 members of the Gold Star Morning. Currently, the band includes Joey Chehade on voacals, Ben Leang on guitar, Cory Bean on bass, and Joey Silloway on drums.
The band’s second single comes straight from the heart, confessing some of the most difficult emotions that are felt in a relationship, the positive and the negative. As the song opens, the bass drum mimicks the steady, though somewhat quick, beat of a heart as what sounds like guitar and possibly piano play a beat of their own. A high tone rings fully in the background, and together the sounds build suspense, like taking a deep breath just before admitting something to a significant other.
“If you were gone, I’d be less fortunate,” begins the lyrical portion of the song, which makes one think the narrator has some strong feelings for the muse. But then the line follows up with what sounds like, “I hold you in this lie you made.” So maybe they are in love, but with whom? Can they even be sure, or have they been fooled by this other person? Personally, I can relate to this line, because I know that I’ve held someone on a pedestal in the past, and blinded myself with who they weren’t anymore; I held them in a lie they helped to create. And that’s not only hard to admit to your partner, but to yourself as well. Sometimes we simply don’t want to hear that we were wrong.
Unfortunately, my ear’s not tuned enough to decipher a majority of the lyrics, but from what I can decipher, it seems like the relationship is deeply complex, and maybe one party doesn’t want the same things as the other. A lyric I was able to catch states, “If I were a lie you’d only speak the truth,” so there’s obviously some adversion/abandonment happening. However, this is just my simple interpretation of it. Again, this is a lyric to which I and, I think, many others can relate. Has there ever been a time in your life that you absolutely adored someone, but they just wouldn’t give you the time of day? It’s one the worst feelings to experience, but experiencing it can make you a stronger person when you overcome it.
Overall, “Heartbeat” is catchy with The Life Electric’s style of combining indie-rock and pop. Its something to which one has the ability to dance, but also feel a connection and sense of not being alone in what one’s feeling.
The Life Electric personally enjoys the song for various reasons. The band had this to say about their new single: “‘Heartbeat’ is the classic confessional. A straight ahead pop song that’s always been a favorite to play. This one has a special place in our hearts, because it’s the first song we ever recorded with Brian Charles at Zippah.”
The Real You is scheduled to be released on March 25th this year. The album will be The Life Electric’s second full-length, following their 2012 released of The Life Electric. The band also released an EP in 2013 entitled Calico. The first LP and the EP can both be found on BandCamp. To listen to “Heartbeat,” click here; for “Gone, Gone, Gone,” click here.
The Life Electric will be playing two shows at the Great Scott in Allston, Massachusettes. One show will be held on January 14th, and the following will be an album release show on March 25th.
A full tracklisting for The Real You can be found below:
- “Gone, Gone, Gone”
- “Call it Karma”
- “The Real You”
- “Ladders”
- “Heartbeat”
- “Everest”
- “Innocence”
- “Spark”
- “Thinking Cup”
- “Perfect Soul”
- “A Ghost”