DC Maxwell shares his latest preview from the forthcoming album The Singer, due May 22, with new single and video ‘Half Real’ out now. LISTEN HERE + WATCH HERE + PRE-SAVE LP HERE.

Narratively ‘Half Real’ suggests that while painful memories can make one feel stuck in the past, time heals us in the quiet business of sticking around to see what the next day holds. Maxwell explains, “I envisioned this song as a conversation between an older and younger version of myself. The younger, wondering if they will ever get out of the darkness they have found themselves in. And the older, telling them to just focus on what the next day holds.”

Where The Singer is set to showcase the gamut of melancholy and rapture, ‘Half Real’ is the record’s emotional heart and starkest moment. Sparsely built on acoustic strumming with a potent feature from Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Will Oldham) – whose timeless album I See A Darkness has seen covers from Rosalia, Johnny Cash, Perfume Genius alongside collaborations with Bjork, Cat Stevens, Silver Jews across his career – it’s gutful. Indicative of DC’s own grit and ultimately the power of song, their collaboration was fated – “he responded to a cold email I sent with a scratchy phone demo.”

DC continues, “He loved the song and just happened to be in LA while I was there recording the album – our studio was 2 minutes from where he was staying. Seeing Will sing live in front of me, his face still covered in glitter from the sold out show he’d done in LA the night before, performing a song I wrote, was one of the highlights of my musical life so far. He brought so much passion and love to the song, and I thought the younger version of myself that this song was trying to speak to would be in absolute awe. It was one of the greatest moments for me working with a genuine musical genius like Will. He truly brought so much emotion and gravitas to the part, and I will be forever grateful.”

Visually capturing the effervescence of youth, ‘Half Real’s music video is self-directed by Maxwell and Jess Fu, who speak to the video’s inspiration: “The song speaks to some of the darker moments in a young life. So we had the idea of a nostalgic bike ride through a cookie cutter suburbia, that had at its fringes, decay and wilderness. We were inspired by the incredible Spike Jonze directed Arcade Fire music video for ‘The Suburbs’. Jess Fu (my co-director) found the perfect developing suburb on the outer fringe of Melbourne (Wollert), and we shot in and around construction sites from the back of a Toyota Hilux as I sung the song in the sunset, while dodging Ute’s fanging it around corners, and families of Kangaroos bounding across the road.”

Joining the recent singles ‘Funeral Suit’, ‘Jesus’s Son’, ‘Golden Light’, to see and hear The Singer is to believe. Presenting the dogma that faith in art can empower, the record is confessional and off-kilter. Ghostly, at times intense and above all, basking in hope. DC’s creative maxim throughout is a display of the soul that possesses song – an approach he injects to every fiber of his creative being. Evocatively preluded by Maxwell’s live reputation, setting ablaze every venue he steps into with a passionate live show fast becoming the stuff of legend, this May 2 DC Maxwell will debut an all new musical experience. ‘In The Round At Emerald Hall’ is a stripped back, intimate and intense take on the record. Set to captivate, Maxwell will showcase just how The Singer will save.