Crux release their new single 'Empty Home': "An Empty House Full of Meaning"

The current world and life itself lately seem to be moving in an unknown direction, a destination where individualism predominates in our actions, and where it seems that our differences as a society are increasingly distancing us from each other. However, there is a historical event that undoubtedly unites us universally, an event that nowadays is rarely mentioned and seems to live only in our minds as a bad memory. With this, we are referring to the pandemic and the Covid-19 lockdown, a phenomenon that shook humanity as a whole and undoubtedly brought us together in a collective sense of grief.

Amidst the isolation, uncertainty, and forced introspection brought about by social distancing during this tense period of our lives, the British band Crux has crafted their new single titled "Empty Home," which encapsulates the feelings of loneliness and personal deterioration that affected us during this global event. In this article, we will delve into this incredible musical work, which reminds us that even though we may be separated and have many differences, there are things that unite us and from which we cannot escape, such as this catastrophe and the relentless passage of time.

About The Band

Crux is an alternative indie rock band consisting of Max Houghton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and keyboards), Jake Waldock (lead guitar), Hallam Press (bass and backing vocals), and Joe Reid (drums). Originally a band that formed during their school days, Crux was formed with the ambition to keep the musical flame alive. Inspired by bands like Muse, they have made their mark on the music scene throughout the UK, especially in Newcastle, performing at iconic venues like the O2 Academy2 and participating in festivals such as the Scoop Festival and the Canny Fringe Festival.

Crux's music is a melting pot of influences ranging from Max's distinctive vocal style, reminiscent of great singers like Matt Bellamy, Thom Yorke, and Jeff Buckley, to Jake and Hallam's skilled string work and Joe's obsession with progressive rock on the drums and percussion. Their compositions blend powerful riffs, classical piano, slap bass, and political rhetoric masterfully intertwined into a sound that is utterly captivating and entirely authentic.

About The Release

"Empty Home" marks the band's sixth release. Officially launched on August 17, 2023 this song was conceived during the pandemic lockdown and Its theme explores the feelings of loneliness that many of us experienced during that period, focusing on how we effectively lost two years of our lives that we will never get back.

The track was recorded at Blank Studios and produced by Sam Grant, a member of Pigs x7, ensuring its exceptional quality.

In-Depth Analysis

"Empty Home" features a particular musical structure, anchored by a melancholic and captivating guitar melody. With an exquisite clean sound accompanied by fantastic delay effects, this melody serves as the backbone of the song, where the other instruments build upon it to create an immersive and emotive sonic landscape.

The magic of this song is noticeable just by listening to the first few seconds, it undoubtedly transports us back to those gray days when we were forced to see the sunlight through our windows, and going out into the world and exercising our freedom as human beings was practically a crime. In this way, "Empty Home" paints not only an auditory picture for listeners but also has the ability to create vivid images in our minds, functioning as a kind of time portal that transports us to that era, evoking strong feelings of emotion and sadness in the audience.

The powerful bass sound, in the hands of Hallam Press, along with polished percussion played by drummer Joe Reid, enters in unison, providing an incredible sense of depth to the song and harmonizing with the guitar's main melody. Thus, all these elements together create a musical equation that resonates throughout the auditory spectrum, generating an essence that is entirely captivating and effectively captures the listeners' attention from start to finish.

However, the key piece of this masterful composition comes from Max Houghton, the vocalist, who, with his distinctive timbre and a 'slap delay' effect accompanying his vocal performance, initiates this auditory journey, giving us the opening lines of the song: "The heating has stopped, and the pipes are beginning to burst. The water pools and there's mold growing on the walls."

The language used by "Empty Home" to convey its message to the audience is truly commendable, as it employs an interesting form of literary composition to communicate different emotions associated with isolation, loneliness, and sadness.

By using a 'house' as a metaphor to describe the distressing situation of lockdown, the song travels through numerous references based on tangible elements of its environment, which vividly describe the band's feelings during the days of confinement. Phrases like "The pipes are beginning to burst" and "the water pools and there's mold growing on the walls" are some of the iconic lines the band uses to describe the relentless passage of time and how we lost valuable years of our lives in the darkness.

However, the metaphor of the house slowly sinking also becomes an interesting concept to analyze when viewed from a different perspective. It could reflect a representation of our own selves deteriorating with lost time, adding an additional layer of depth to the song's message, and suggesting that it is not only about the sadness of the experience itself but also about the fragility of human existence.

As the song progresses, its central structure deploys various elements that create notable dynamism, such as the inclusion of backing vocals or Jake Waldock's incredible distorted guitar sound, adding musical arrangements over the song's melodic base while Max delivers the lines: "The guilt wraps round me like a cold blanket, And weighs me down pressing me to the ground."

Nonetheless, the true auditory climax arrives at the 1:54-minute mark, where both the bass and both guitars acquire heavy distortion, playing a melody that marks the song's fundamental chords with incredible power. This dynamic unfolds entirely, extending to the end of the song, where the strong instrumentation, coupled with the repetition of the phrase "Empty Home," serves as a cry of liberation from the confinement and the mental prison we were increasingly immersed in.

At this point, it is impossible not to notice the expertise of the Crux members as great composers and, of course, as incredible performers. "Empty Home," in addition to making us relive those days of desolation and anguish by replicating them with a compelling and courageous rhetoric, also presents a musical structure that aligns perfectly with its thematic background, keeping the listeners in a constant state of suspense, ultimately ending in an explosion of sounds that symbolize the end of our confinement and our long-awaited freedom.

We invite you to follow Crux on their social media channels to stay updated on their latest developments and new musical works. Furthermore, we extend a warm invitation to our entire community not only to enjoy this incredible song but also to explore their entire repertoire and discography, which will undoubtedly captivate your senses.