Halloweens announce second album, ‘Opera Singing At The Salsa Bar’
Five years ago, The Vaccines‘ Justin Young and Timothy Lanham first teamed up to make the side project Halloweens, and now their second album, Opera Singing At The Salsa Bar, is on the way.
The duo released their debut single in 2019, ‘Hannah, You’re Amazing’, before releasing their debut album, Morning Kiss at the Acropolis, the following year.
Their sophomore record was written and recorded between 2022 and 2023, during which time The Vaccines also created the EP Planet of the Youth and the album Pick-Up Full of Carnations. The latter was released in January 2024.
However, with Halloweens, the pair say it feels like there is less pressure behind them. With more creative freedom and fewer expectations, the band have drawn from a less indie rock palette, citing artists like Leonard Cohen and Arthur Russell as influences.
Discussing the record, which is set for release on May 17th, Young said, “When you have an audience, a team and a back catalogue, there’s always this low hum of obligation in the background – even if it’s imagined. And with Halloweens there is none of that.”
The record is themed around love, with Young prioritising being “brutally honest.” To tease Opera Singing At The Salsa Bar, Halloweens have released their first single from the new album, ‘Columbia Record’, which bounces along with some 1980s-inspired synths and whistling.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, during an interview with Far Out, Young said of his career in the music industry: “I definitely have been institutionalised by being lucky enough to spend my adult life touring. But then, but then wider than that, I’ve always been having a bit of an existential crisis. I often wonder if I’m running from things or to things. I think living in the moment and finding inner peace is a very hard thing for a lot of us to do.”
Stream the new song below, which is accompanied by a Wes Anderson-inspired music video.
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