Halves play free gig to celebrate fine new album

It may be a little early to start drawing up a ‘best of 2013’ list but it will take some record to rival Boa Howl from Halves. The Dublin based trio celebrate the release of their second album with a free show in Róisín Dubh on Thursday, August 8.

The band began working on Boa Howl in December 2011, just after they had played a well-received show in Dublin’s Unitarian Church.

“As soon as we got the Unitarian thing done, we really kicked off working on the second album,” says guitarist and drummer Brian Cash. “We realised if we were going to make a second album, we had to record it the following August. Once the deadline was set in place, we just kept writing.”

Halves debut album, It Grow and Grows (Forever and Ever) earned the band a prestigious Choice Prize nomination. Did they feel under pressure to match it?

“It’s initially very daunting,” Brian says. “For your first album, you have years of riffs, and little ideas and songs, even. This time, we had absolutely nothing. But once we got past the first three songs, we knew we were OK.”

Boa Howl begins with the cacophonous Drumhunter, a gem of a track that sets the standard for a great album. Why did Brian and his band-mates (brothers Elis and Tim Czerniak) decide to start with this track?

“That’s a direct reflection on the first album,” says Brian. “We love it, but I think the one problem we have with it now is that the song that opens the first album is very wishy-washy for the first two minutes. There’s no immediacy; for people that didn’t know our stuff, it was kind of a hard sell.

“So we wanted a very definite message to start the second album,” he adds.  “And we wanted people who knew our previous stuff to be a little taken aback at the change. It was almost dancey; it was very deliberate to put that first.”

One of the highlights on Boa Howl is Tanager Peak, which features Gemma Hayes. Why did the guys want to work with the Tipperary-born singer?

“She’s amazing,” Brian enthuses. “Her first album was gorgeous, when it came out we all fell in love with it. One of the places we were going to record was in France with Dave Odlum, formerly of The Frames, simply because we love his production on her records.”

“We always like bringing in vocalists. This time around, we had one person on the list and it was Gemma Hayes. I heard through a friend of a friend that she really liked the band, so I just sent her an email. She’s an absolutely lovely person.”

 They mightn’t be competing with the Fab Four on eBay, but Halves are certainly in the running for Irish album of the year. Are they contemplating a second Choice nomination, and the €10,000 that comes with winning it?

“Before we got the nomination the first time, it didn’t enter into our heads, because we didn’t think we get nominated,” Brian says. “When we did, we were quite realistic that they weren’t going to give it to us. We were the smallest act on the shortlist, but we got publicity out of it.

“We’d obviously love ten grand. But I don’t know if we’ll get nominated again. Even if we did, we definitely wouldn’t win!”

Halves play the Róisín Dubh on Thursday, August 8. Doors are at 9pm, admission is free.