Evening Elephants Grapple With Loss in "Hush Fires"
LA indie rocker duo Evening Elephants make a grand and heartfelt return with the release of their latest single, "Hush Fires." The single sees lead singer Sam Boggs, customarily known for his fun, laid-back attitude and ridiculous persona open up about his personal life, creating a meaningful track about his father's battle with alcoholism.
The track opens with a collection of ethereal, echoey vocal harmonies and subdued percussion patterns. Boggs's vocals rush in like a cool wave as intricate, plucky guitar strums ebb and flow in the background as he croons, "Sorry sweet sun, I had to go/ you were also such a thoughtful soul/ it's nothing, it's nothing."
The chorus bursts with effervescent energy, reminiscent of watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon. An upbeat rhythm section leads the charge with the hook, "Let me look at ya / Draw you like a statue just for fun," pulling on listeners' heartstrings. In the second half of the track, Boggs works through his grief, ultimately wondering how the world looks in his father's hands from heaven on the bridge.
"'Hush Fires' is a song about loss. The stages you go through after that and the feelings you have towards the person you have lost," shares Boggs. "I specifically lost my father, who was an alcoholic whose life was taken from the disease. 'Hush Fires' speaks on my changing stance in grief, switching from anger to sadness daily. The first line 'Sorry sweet sun I had to go, you were always such a thoughtful soul it's nothing' depicts a conversation that would explain our relationship. His absence in my life and my forgiveness, thinking he was talking to me, and in reality, he's saying goodbye to his existence (i.e. the sun that fuels all life). The song is followed by more examples of the duality I was feeling in life after his death. I myself want to live and die at the same time always brushing it off as nothing when in reality that in itself was something."
Evening Elephants is ending the year and starting the next on a high note with exciting performances scheduled at El Cid as direct support for Telescreens on November 7 and at Morrocan Lounge on January 18.
Listen to "Hush Fires" below:
